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Breaking News in Technology & BusinessSat, 14 Sep 2019 18:12:16 +0000en-UShttps://www.geekwire.com/wp-content/themes/geekwire/dist/images/geekwire-logo-rss.pnghttps://www.geekwire.com
GeekWirehttps://www.geekwire.com/wp-content/themes/geekwire/dist/images/geekwire-logo-rss.png144144hourly1A reckoning for the gig economy: Why Amazon and Uber are facing new scrutiny over contract workershttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/reckoning-gig-economy-amazon-uber-facing-new-scrutiny-contract-workers/
Sat, 14 Sep 2019 18:12:16 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=521040From package delivery to ride-hailing, companies including Amazon and Uber are facing new scrutiny over their use of contract workers to power the services they provide to consumers. California is poised to enact a law that would force Uber and Lyft to treat drivers like employees as part of a broader push around the country to ensure app-based workers have broader labor protections. Meanwhile, three U.S. Senators are demanding answers from Amazon about its network of contractors and independent delivery companies that get packages to customers’ doors. ﻿ We discuss the implications of these developments, and what’s next, on this… Read More]]>Amazon announced its Delivery Service Partner network of independent package companies at an event last year in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

From package delivery to ride-hailing, companies including Amazon and Uber are facing new scrutiny over their use of contract workers to power the services they provide to consumers.

On Friday, Amazon confirmed plans to cut medical benefits for Whole Foods employees who work fewer than 20 hours per week to Business Insider. The decision will affect about 2 percent of Whole Foods’ total workforce.

Warren tweeted a link to a separate Business Insider opinion piece accusing Bezos of hypocrisy because he committed to investing in employees a few weeks before cutting medical benefits for part-time Whole Foods workers.

Bezos was one of more than 100 CEOs to sign onto a pledge to redefine the “purpose of a corporation” to go beyond producing profits for shareholders. The commitment, initiated by the influential Business Roundtable, pledged to also take into account employees, customers, and other stakeholders.

In a subsequent tweet, Warren reiterated her commitment to breaking up large technology companies and adapting U.S. antitrust law to rein them in.

The proposal is part of Warren’s bid for the presidency in 2020. She’s emerged as one of tech’s toughest critics as she vies with other Democrats for the White House. But she isn’t alone. Fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders has long criticized Amazon’s treatment of workers.

Last year, Sanders introduced the “STOP BEZOS Act,” which would have compelled Amazon to cover the costs of government programs that its lower-income workers receive. The bill never advanced but Amazon did change its policies.

Despite these changes, Amazon continued to earn the ire of Democrats in Washington D.C. On Friday, three U.S. Senators sent a letter to Bezos demanding answers on the network of third-party delivery contractors the company uses following critical reports of the program.

]]>Seattle startup gets in the mix with StudioMaster, a music-matching algorithm that’s in tune with techhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/seattle-startup-gets-mix-studiomaster-music-matching-algorithm-thats-tune-tech/
Sat, 14 Sep 2019 15:00:35 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520268Surely, in our digital lives, we have evolved beyond the print classifieds or flyer-at-the-coffee-shop method of finding a drummer for that band we’re putting together. So what if machine learning technology could match musicians via the musical snippets they upload online? That’s the plan behind tech from one young startup. Ligia Tica and Jonathan Kang are the co-founders of StudioMaster, a Seattle platform that helps users find likeminded artists in an objective, quantifiable way. Their “StudioMatch” algorithm analyzes tracks uploaded to the site and compares them to everything else that’s been shared. “Let’s say somebody uploads their guitar riff,” Tica… Read More]]>Ligia Tica, left, and Jonathan Kang, co-founders of Seattle-based StudioMaster. (Photos courtesy of StudioMaster)

Surely, in our digital lives, we have evolved beyond the print classifieds or flyer-at-the-coffee-shop method of finding a drummer for that band we’re putting together. So what if machine learning technology could match musicians via the musical snippets they upload online? That’s the plan behind tech from one young startup.

Ligia Tica and Jonathan Kang are the co-founders of StudioMaster, a Seattle platform that helps users find likeminded artists in an objective, quantifiable way. Their “StudioMatch” algorithm analyzes tracks uploaded to the site and compares them to everything else that’s been shared.

“Let’s say somebody uploads their guitar riff,” Tica said. “They would get matched with complimentary, let’s say drum lines, or violin pieces or piano pieces. So it is a social media platform and the purpose and the point is to network.”

Tica graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a degree in business administration, and while she calls music “a drug” that she consumes every day, neither she nor Kang are musicians. The third member of the team is John Parker, a developer in Pittsburgh credited with building the algorithm.

As with any content-driven platform, Tica sees a chicken-and-egg problem in getting the business up and running.

“Nobody wants to sign up on a new platform because nobody is there and nobody’s there because nobody wants to sign up,” she said. “So that’s the biggest challenge — to get it off the ground. What we’ve decided to do is to market to users that have a SoundCloud account.

In trying to attract some of the reported 175 million registered users of that audio distribution platform, StudioMaster hopes to deliver what SoundCloud participants ultimately want — more followers and more plays.

Accessing the StudioMaster platform and finding the next great vocal or instrumental to match your piece of music will cost $9.99 a month. Phase two of the project will allow users to gain access to an all-in-one digital audio workspace where they can combine and manipulate their tracks and post them for everyone to experience. Those involved in each track are “tagged” to share credit.

And just like in certain dating apps, if you’re matched to music and you’re not into it, you can disregard what the algorithm came up with.

]]>Headphone maker Human cuts majority of staff, including execs, seeks buyer 3 weeks after launchhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/headphone-maker-human-cuts-majority-staff-including-execs-seeks-buyer-3-weeks-launch/
Sat, 14 Sep 2019 00:35:13 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520975Human, the Seattle startup that launched its distinctive ear-shaped wireless headphones last month after five years of development, has laid off almost its entire team — including its CEO and other top executives — and placed itself into receivership in an attempt to find a buyer and satisfy its debts. The company has laid off 25 people out its workforce of more than 30 people, leaving a small team to support the continued sales of the Human headphones. Bill Moore, the veteran tech executive who served as Human’s CEO, confirmed the cutbacks in a phone call with GeekWire this afternoon.… Read More]]>Human launched its wireless headphones on Aug. 20, and quickly dropped the price from $399 to $259 based on consumer reaction. (Human Photo)

Human, the Seattle startup that launched its distinctive ear-shaped wireless headphones last month after five years of development, has laid off almost its entire team — including its CEO and other top executives — and placed itself into receivership in an attempt to find a buyer and satisfy its debts.

The company has laid off 25 people out its workforce of more than 30 people, leaving a small team to support the continued sales of the Human headphones. Bill Moore, the veteran tech executive who served as Human’s CEO, confirmed the cutbacks in a phone call with GeekWire this afternoon.

Moore said the company faces a cash crunch due to a combination of rising manufacturing costs, an inability to raise more funds from investors, and the decision to reduce the price of the headphones from $399 to $259 based on media and consumer response. While reaction to the unorthodox design was decidedly mixed, the original price was often perceived as too high, based on feedback from consumers to whom GeekWire showed the headphones prior to launch.

“It was kind of a perfect storm,” Moore said.

Human is not filing for bankruptcy, Moore said, but based its board’s decision, as of Friday evening the company was set to be transferred to a receiver, a trustee legally appointed to oversee a company’s assets and business operations.

The company raised more than $26 million from investors. One of its backers was Microsoft, which inked a strategic partnership with Human that gave the startup access to translation services built by the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant. Other investors included Sage Venture Partners, Sugar Mountain Capital, Darling Ventures, and Ropart Asset Management II.

The sudden turn of events was especially bittersweet, Moore said, because the headphones continue to sell at a steady pace of about 100 units a day even without dedicated marketing. The company has sold about 2,500 units since the Aug. 20 launch, and about 5,000 overall, including an earlier campaign on the Indiegogo crowdfunding site.

“I’m not only proud of the team, I’m proud of the creativity,” Moore said. “This is a product that probably would have never been built in a big company. There would have been too much risk in form factor. And we actually believe the form factor is the largest asset that’s sitting here. For those that it resonates with, it resonates hugely. And we knew a few people would make fun of it. But people tend to turn around on that, as well.”

Human co-founder and inventor Ben Willis addressed the unorthodox design in an interview with GeekWire prior to the launch. “This is a market that is just smothered with nothing really that different,” Willis said. “Everything looks the same.”

Apart from the unique look and feel, Human touted the premium audio quality, 32-point touch control, seamless integration of digital assistants, real-time language translation, a 9-hour battery life, and 100-foot wireless range. They also become a Bluetooth speaker when attached to each other.

Despite the company’s efforts to tout the advanced features of the Human headphones, the pricing benchmark for wireless mobile listening was set by less-expensive alternatives, most notably Apple’s popular $159 AirPods. Human was also going head-to-head against similarly priced over-the-ear headphones from established brands such as Bose and Beats.

The company had a veteran executive team, including Moore, who joined as CEO in 2016 after leading RootMetrics. Other leaders included Ann White, chief marketing officer, previously an Amazon and Microosft marketing leader; CFO Ron Stevens, formerly a financial exec at RootMetrics and Haggen; Eliza Arango-Vargas, vice president of engineering who spent eight years at Microsoft working on products including Zune; and Jim Holt, executive director of firmware and software who previously worked at Microsoft and Intellectual Ventures.

The privately held company didn’t disclose details about its debt or cash position. While the first priority is paying off the company’s creditors, Moore holds out hope that a buyer could take what Human has developed and carry it on from here as a successful product.

“There’s actually a tremendous asset here, and I’m super proud of the team that delivered this,” he said. “No one thought we could — a small, independent company such as ourselves. And it was ambitious for sure. But we were able to successfully launch it and get it out there to good acclaim and good sales. We just couldn’t raise the money to continue this forward.”

]]>Xnor teases an AI gizmo that’ll make sure grocery stores keep their shelves stockedhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/xnor-teases-ai-gizmo-thatll-make-sure-grocery-stores-keep-shelves-stocked/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 23:20:58 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520948Artificial intelligence is coming to a grocery store shelf near you. Xnor.ai, a spin-out from Seattle’s Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, has been working with partners on low-cost, low-power AI monitoring devices, including a camera with the ability to detect when a person steps in front of a webcam. Now the startup is unveiling a wireless device that’s designed to be clipped onto a retail shelf and send out an alert when the store is running low on a particular item. The beta demonstration is due to take place this weekend in Las Vegas at Groceryshop, a trade show for… Read More]]>Xnor.ai’s shelf-monitoring system can provide alerts about out-of-stock items. (Xnor.ai Photo via Twitter)

The key to Xnor’s edge technology is a chip that can run AI software on mere milliwatts of power, so that a coin-sized battery could theoretically keep the chip running for 30 years. The system takes advantage of low-power wireless technologies such as Narrowband IoT and LoRa.

Xnor isn’t the first company to get into the smart-shelf market: Several companies have fielded gizmos to keep track of store inventory on the shelf. Intel has partnered with a couple of companies on such AI systems, including Redmond, Wash.-based AVA Retail. The Kroger grocery-store chain has a system called Kroger EDGE that makes use of Microsoft Azure cloud computing. And for what it’s worth, the checkout-less Amazon Go stores use computer vision and other AI tools to track inventory as well as purchases.

Speaking of Amazon, the online retail giant happens to hold a patent for an AI-enabled system that could someday check the inventory in your own refrigerator – and send you an alert when food goes bad. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to imagine the AI agent in your kitchen ordering groceries from the AI agent at the supermarket, for delivery by an autonomous drone.

]]>GeekWire Calendar Picks: Silicon Valley’s impact on America; National Day of Civic Hacking; and morehttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/geekwire-calendar-picks-silicon-valleys-impact-america-national-day-civic-hacking/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 21:00:18 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520742— Since Silicon Valley became home to the development of computer chips, tech has grown into something that’s seamlessly woven into just about everything we do. The history of that growth and how it’s changed things is the topic of a book called The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America by University of Washington professor Margaret O’Mara. The Cloud City Tech Meetup Group is hosting O’Mara as a speaker in Seattle on Sept. 26 when she’ll talk about her book and the research she did while writing it. — Sept. 21 is the National Day of Civic Hacking… Read More]]>

— Since Silicon Valley became home to the development of computer chips, tech has grown into something that’s seamlessly woven into just about everything we do. The history of that growth and how it’s changed things is the topic of a book called The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America by University of Washington professor Margaret O’Mara. The Cloud City Tech Meetup Group is hosting O’Mara as a speaker in Seattle on Sept. 26 when she’ll talk about her book and the research she did while writing it.

— Sept. 21 is the National Day of Civic Hacking and events are being held around the country, including one at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond. The event is designed to bring together people from multiple disciplines to help create projects for the greater good. Local projects include creating a streamlined way for voters to learn about candidates and initiatives; a home screen app for students with blindness; and a game about managing transportation in a large city.

Here are more highlights from the GeekWire Calendar:

Impact Pitch: An event where startups focused on community initiatives can pitch their company’s idea and win prizes at 415 Westlake in Seattle; 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 19.

For more upcoming events, check out the GeekWire Calendar, where you can find meetups, conferences, startup events, and geeky gatherings in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Organizing an event? Submit details here.
]]>Geek of the Week: UW’s Justin Chan uses computer science skills to democratize medical deviceshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/justin-chan/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 19:30:45 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=518526Whenever Justin Chan visited a hospital, he was surprised to see the physically large and expensive devices that are rolled around for various diagnostics. It was a seemingly ordinary observation, but one that stuck with him and informed his future work. “As a computer scientist I found it rather puzzling that we can get a smartphone with GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular, accelerometer and multiple cores on a device that is battery-powered and that can be placed in our pockets, but medical devices are still really big,” said Chan, a PhD student at the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science &… Read More]]>Justin Chan. (UW Photo / Mark Stone)

Whenever Justin Chan visited a hospital, he was surprised to see the physically large and expensive devices that are rolled around for various diagnostics. It was a seemingly ordinary observation, but one that stuck with him and informed his future work.

“As a computer scientist I found it rather puzzling that we can get a smartphone with GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular, accelerometer and multiple cores on a device that is battery-powered and that can be placed in our pockets, but medical devices are still really big,” said Chan, a PhD student at the Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. “That motivated me to find a way to use computing and my background to democratize medical devices.”

Chan, our latest Geek of the Week, recently developed a smartphone app that can detect middle ear fluid using sound and a paper cone, and he’s co-founder of Edus Health, a startup aiming to make pediatric healthcare more accessible.

Alongside Shyam Gollakota, associate professor of computer science and engineering at UW, Chan and Edus Health are tackling the most common reason for pediatric healthcare visits today — ear infections.

“Many of these complications are preventable if middle ear fluid is detected early,” Chan said. “However, accurate detection is difficult as the fluid resides behind the eardrum, which can be difficult to visualize. Our tool has accuracies that are on-par with specialist tools and is intuitive enough for untrained parents to use. Given the ubiquity of smartphones, our app has the potential to be the default screening tool used in developing countries by healthcare providers and caregivers at home.”

The researchers recently won an NIH SBIR grant for $225,000 which will help them work toward getting FDA clearance. Chan said they’re excited to reach that milestone next year and be the first mobile health app coming out of UW to get such FDA approval.

“I am learning quite a lot about this process, which is really what gets me out of the bed every day,” he said.

Chan has previously worked on a contactless smart speaker system to detect cardiac arrests and prior to his work in the health space, he focused on 3D printing sensors that could wirelessly connect to the internet.

Learn more about this week’s Geek of the Week, Justin Chan:

What do you do, and why do you do it? I believe that everyone should be able to own their medical data. To that end, my goal is to make medical diagnostics frugal and accessible enough that anyone with a few spare parts and DIY-know-how would be able to obtain clinical-grade accuracies in the comfort of their homes. While the reality is that many diagnostic tools in healthcare often require expensive tools and specialist expertise, I am hoping we will be able to change that.

Our work at Edus Health is taking a first step in this direction by creating an accessible smartphone tool to detect middle ear fluid, which stands as the single biggest reason for pediatric healthcare visits today. We are currently planning our FDA studies, and hope to be able to obtain regulatory clearance by next year.

What’s the single most important thing people should know about your field? Technologists, engineers and inventors are in a prime position to be able to enact positive change in the world. However, this often requires leaving the comforting bubble of technology and engaging deeply with people in other fields. It is important not to hold oneself back from approaching problems because of one’s lack of background in a particular domain. If a problem is important, the work to get up to speed with the norms, jargon and state of the art in a given domain will be worthwhile and satisfying.

Where do you find your inspiration? I get to work with some amazing people every day. Inspiration often occurs in the midst of vigorous debates with colleagues, and frequently at a point in a discussion where it seems as though we have painted ourselves into a corner. But the more we wrestle with a research problem, the more the nature of the problem is made clear, and magically inspiration seems to materialize. It’s great to be able to engage in these discussions several times a week.

What’s the one piece of technology you couldn’t live without, and why? If not for the timer on my smart speaker, my midnight routine of cooking instant noodles would probably end in an overcooked blob of despair instead of a bowl of MSG-infused goodness.

What’s your workspace like, and why does it work for you? My workspace is constantly being reinvented to suit the particular task at hand. During the earliest stages of a project, I’m often at a workbench, feverishly cobbling together a hardware prototype from spare parts. When it comes time to test a prototype, I can be anywhere from a hospital to an anechoic chamber (a room designed to absorb sound or radio waves) running experiments. And finally when it is close to a paper submission deadline, I go through several rounds of editing at a desk surrounded in a whirlwind of drafts and related papers.

(Photo courtesy of Justin Chan)

Your best tip or trick for managing everyday work and life. (Help us out, we need it.) Prioritize your work by importance, and do not let the seemingly urgent day-to-day tasks get in the way of your long-term goals. If you leave low priority work to the last minute, you will typically find that last minute was all that was needed to complete the task.

Mac, Windows or Linux? It varies depending on the task I am working on, whichever tool gets the job done fastest is the best option.

Kirk, Picard, or Janeway? Kirk’s famous quote to “boldly go where no man has gone before” is a call to action for anyone working in research and technology. Asking questions which push the envelope and which force us to re-evaluate our conception of reality often precedes new ideas and lines of research.

Transporter, Time Machine or Cloak of Invisibility? Time machine. History has a lot to teach us, and if we don’t learn from the lessons of the past, we are doomed to repeat them in the future.

If someone gave me $1 million to launch a startup, I would … do what we’re doing now at Edus Health!

I once waited in line for … I normally come back after the crowd has dispersed.

Your role models: I am fortunate to be able to work with some really amazing collaborators and colleagues, I make an effort to learn and emulate the best in each of them.

Greatest game in history: Minesweeper, Solitaire and crosswords. Classic games for some light procrastination.

Best gadget ever: Slow cooker.

First computer: One that was old enough to still have a floppy disk drive.

Current phone: iPhone 7.

Favorite app: Venmo, Uber, StackExchange.

Favorite cause: “Talent is equally distributed, opportunity is not.” — Leila Janah. Any cause that unleashes the untapped power of those in less equitable circumstances is a worthy one. The successful progression of the human race depends on harnessing everyone’s talents and not leaving anyone behind.

Most important technology of 2019: Technology to lessen the effects of echo chambers and political polarization around the world. Anything that can allow members from both sides of the aisle to see eye to eye will lead to a more civil and harmonious society.

Most important technology of 2021: Mass market, fully automated, self-driving cars. We are not quite there yet. But when we are, this technology has the potential to dramatically reduce the mortality rate worldwide.

Final words of advice for your fellow geeks: Believe in yourself and never give up.

]]>Seattle startup connects farms to home delivery, launches new program for low-income familieshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/pacific-coast-harvest/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 19:00:21 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=519019Farmers markets and “Community Supported Agriculture” bags brimming with local produce have become commonplace across much of the agriculturally fertile Pacific Northwest. But our jam-packed schedules don’t always provide time for browsing the market stands or figuring out what to do with odd-ball veggies that sometimes wind up in a one-size-fits-all CSA delivery. Seattle startup Pacific Coast Harvest is trying to change that by combining the convenience of home delivery with the ability to select local produce, all with the environmental, social and economic benefit of supporting nearby, small-scale farmers. Shoppers can browse the site, choosing between in-season nectarines, Walla… Read More]]>Christopher Teeny, managing owner of Pacific Coast Harvest, alongside Francis Kamau, owner of Faith Beyond Farm in Enumclaw, Wash. Kamau, who immigrated from Kenya, runs the farm with his wife, Elizabeth Ndishu. They sell some of their produce through Teeny’s startup, supporting their 4-acre farm. (Pacific Coast Harvest Photo)

Farmers markets and “Community Supported Agriculture” bags brimming with local produce have become commonplace across much of the agriculturally fertile Pacific Northwest.

But our jam-packed schedules don’t always provide time for browsing the market stands or figuring out what to do with odd-ball veggies that sometimes wind up in a one-size-fits-all CSA delivery.

Seattle startup Pacific Coast Harvest is trying to change that by combining the convenience of home delivery with the ability to select local produce, all with the environmental, social and economic benefit of supporting nearby, small-scale farmers. Shoppers can browse the site, choosing between in-season nectarines, Walla Walla sweet onions and kale, as well as locally made cheeses, salami and fresh pasta. The site features farmer profiles, describing the farm acreage and location. On appointed delivery days, the food arrives in recyclable or reusable packaging.

Now, in a fresh twist on the concept, the company is teaming up with the city of Seattle and area preschools to provide the same service at a discount to lower-income families. Select families in the city’s Fresh Bucks to Go program are able to go online, select their fruits and vegetables and the items are dropped off every two weeks at their children’s preschools. It’s something of a Holy Grail in the public health and social services sectors — making it convenient for families with fewer means to get affordable, locally grown produce.

“Consumers can get access to higher quality, more sustainably grown fruits and veggies than they can from a traditional store,” said Christopher Teeny, managing owner of Pacific Coast Harvest.

Fresh Bucks to Go is an offshoot of the city of Seattle’s Fresh Bucks program, which helps lower-income shoppers buy produce by matching dollar-for-dollar for their SNAP/EBT benefits, also known as food stamps, at participating farmers markets and grocery stores. Fresh Bucks to Go started in 2012, but took off in recent years thanks to funding from Seattle’s voter-approved tax on sweetened beverages. Last year, 1,473 families received produce through Fresh Bucks to Go.

Teeny recently launched a pilot project with 250 families within the program who will be able to customize their orders just as his other customers can. They’ll have $15 of Fresh Bucks credits to buy their produce, and anything above that amount will be discounted 15% from the list price. Other Fresh Bucks to Go families will still receive bags of seasonal fruits and veggies selected for them, like traditional CSAs offer.

“Chris and Pacific Coast Harvest have really been the ones to use technology to transform this program,” said Natalie Thomson, senior food and nutrition planner with the city of Seattle’s Human Services Department.

Faith Beyond Farm as seen from above. (Pacific Coast Harvest Photo)

When it comes to the Fresh Bucks to Go program in general, “we believe that the size and scale and intent of this program, which is really connecting the local food economy and food access, is pretty revolutionary,” Thomson said.

While Pacific Coast Harvest is a key player in the food access program, the company is largely focused on sales in the central Puget Sound area. The startup, which launched in 2011 and has four employees, works with 250 Northwest farms but also includes a few farther afield suppliers so customers can still get basics such as bananas and avocados.

Shoppers can learn which farmer is growing their produce and where it’s located. The prices are competitive with and sometimes beats higher-end grocers. (Pacific Coast Harvest Photo)

One of the locals is Vince Caruso, who owns the 10-acre Caruso Farms in Snohomish with his wife, Anna. Caruso grows roughly 125 different crops and sells his produce through Teeny’s company, as well as his own CSA, farmers markets and to restaurants. Adding more markets allows Caruso to grow larger amounts of some in-demand crops.

“You become a little more efficient that way,” Caruso said. “It does make you a little more profitable in the end. It moves the needle a little bit.”

Two University of Washington researchers studied the regional economics of Seattle’s food access programs, which includes the two Fresh Bucks initiatives and a third program. They found that every dollar Washington farmers received through these initiatives created at least $1.70 in economic activity in the state.

Caruso thinks it’s the right thing to help low-income people purchase local foods so “that money is not going to a corporate entity or leaving the local area,” he said.

Packing orders with the Pacific Coast Harvest, from left to right: Christopher Teeny, Jared Clements, Kailyn Schmidt and Alesia Johnny. Johnny has Down syndrome and works with the startup through Provail, an organization helping people with disabilities find jobs. (Pacific Coast Harvest Photo)

Teeny is taking pains to be transparent about where his startup’s food comes from. Because the designation “local” lacks a specific definition, he sends a fact sheet with every delivery sharing information on each product, letting customers see how many miles away their produce was grown so they can judge what qualifies as local.

And when it comes to prices for the general marketplace, the produce from smaller farms sold through Pacific Coast Harvest is on par with premium grocers and lower than farmers markets, Teeny said. Organic items from bigger farms, local and otherwise, are cheaper from him than from higher-end markets. The company delivers to neighborhoods once a week. Orders over $30 are free, those between $15-30 are $3.25, and the rare order below $15 is $5.75.

“We see it as our responsibility to not simply connect farmers and consumers,” said Teeny, “but also to educate consumers about the delights and limits of food from small, local farms — and [to educate] the farmers about what consumers expect in the day and age of online grocery delivery.”

Editor's Note: Funding for GeekWire's Impact Series is provided by the Singh Family Foundation in support of public service journalism. GeekWire editors and reporters operate independently and maintain full editorial control over the content.
]]>Coming attraction: Evidence is mounting for detection of a second interstellar visitorhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/evidence-mounts-detection-second-interstellar-visitor/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:59:32 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520889Two years after astronomers made their first detection of a celestial object that came into our solar system from the neighborhood of another star, they think they’ve spotted another one. The comet, known as C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was discovered on Aug. 30 by Gennady Borisov at the MARGO observatory in Crimea, a region that’s contested by Ukraine and Russia. C/2019 Q4’s origin hasn’t yet been fully confirmed, but each night brings further evidence that its path traces back to far beyond our solar system. In a Thursday update, NASA reports that C/2019 Q4 is 260 million miles from the sun… Read More]]>A two-color composite image from the Gemini North Multi-Object Spectrograph in Hawaii shows Comet C/2019 Q4 (Borisov). Blue and red dashes are images of background stars that appear to streak due to the comet’s motion. (Gemini Observatory / NSF / AURA Image / Travis Rector)

Two years after astronomers made their first detection of a celestial object that came into our solar system from the neighborhood of another star, they think they’ve spotted another one.

The comet, known as C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was discovered on Aug. 30 by Gennady Borisov at the MARGO observatory in Crimea, a region that’s contested by Ukraine and Russia. C/2019 Q4’s origin hasn’t yet been fully confirmed, but each night brings further evidence that its path traces back to far beyond our solar system.

In a Thursday update, NASA reports that C/2019 Q4 is 260 million miles from the sun and will reach its closest point to the sun on Dec. 8, at a distance of about 180 million miles. That’s tens of millions of miles beyond the orbit of Mars.

“The comet’s current velocity is high, about 93,000 mph, which is well above the typical velocities of objects orbiting the sun at that distance,” said Davide Farnocchia of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The high velocity indicates not only that the object likely originated from outside our solar system, but also that it will leave and head back to interstellar space.”

Farnocchia has been working with other astronomers, including experts at the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center, to nail down the comet’s precise trajectory. It’s heading for the inner solar system from above — that is, celestial north — at a 40-degree angle to the solar system’s ecliptic plane.

The observations made to date indicate that C/2019 Q4 has a fuzzy appearance, suggestive of a cloud of gas and dust that could be resolved into a tail as the object comes closer. NASA says observations from the University of Hawaii indicate the comet’s nucleus is somewhere between 1.2 and 10 miles wide.

C/2019 Q4 should be detectable using moderate-sized amateur telescopes at the time of peak brightness in December. The next few weeks of observations should nail down (or knock down) C/2019 Q4’s interstellar status. But Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory who’s an expert on eccentric comets, is sounding increasingly confident:

I'm not normally one for hyperbole, but that is one seriously hyperbolic hyperbola!

It seems increasingly implausible now that C/2019 Q4 (Borisov) can be anything but an interstellar comet. Just wow…

So far, astronomers have confirmed the existence of only one interstellar object, known as ‘Oumuamua — so they don’t know what to expect from what may be the second one. But if C/2019 Q4 is anything like ‘Oumuamua, they’re in for a wild ride.

Even though ‘Oumuamua is now on its way out of the solar system for good, with fading opportunities for observation, the astronomical community is still debating whether it’s an asteroid, a comet or an alien probe.

‘Oumuamua’s weirdest quality is its extreme length, compared to its width. By some measures, the ratio of length to width is 10 to 1, which would make the object look either like a giant cigar or an appropriately sized starship.

Assuming C/2019 Q4 is of interstellar origin, spectral observations could reveal its chemical composition, telling astronomers whether there are dramatic differences in the makeup of material from other stars. And who knows? Maybe it’ll turn out to be another flying cigar, this time sporting a trail of cosmic smoke.

Update for 4:30 p.m. PT Sept. 13: UW astronomer Lynne Jones discussed the case of C/2019 Q4 in an email forwarded to GeekWire. Jones is involved in the preparations for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, or LSST. She’s associated with the UW’s DIRAC Institute, which is developing analytical tools for LSST data. Here’s what Jones had to say:

“It’s pretty amazing to find another object with such an interesting orbit — another likely interstellar object so soon after the first has really interesting implications for how many of these kinds of things we may find in the future as bigger full-sky surveys (like LSST) start up. It’s also interesting to me that this object is so different from ‘Oumuamua — it’s cometary instead of rocky, and has a much higher eccentricity. Luckily it will be visible for much longer than ‘Oumuamua as well — we will have about a year to study this object in more detail.

“UW is involved with follow-up observations, partly through obtaining additional observations at Apache Point Observatory [in New Mexico] that will improve the orbit measurement, but primarily are intended to help determine the size of the comet (which can also be used to look for any indications of a light curve, indicating a rotation period which can help constrain its shape). We hope to obtain more observations with APO in the near future to further characterize the comet.

“UW is also involved with the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), and obviously this is very interesting for that survey as well — it wasn’t observed with ZTF, but there are some follow-up resources associated with the ZTF survey which have been used to observe C/2019 Q4 as well, to measure a color for the comet.”

]]>Seattle-based OLEO, maker of CBD-infused drink mixer, raises $1.5Mhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/seattle-based-oleo-makers-cbd-infused-drink-mixer-raises-1-5m/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 17:15:03 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520881OLEO, the Seattle-based makers of CBD-infused mixers for beverages, has raised $1.5 million in a recent funding round and has an eye on expanding its product line and retail reach. The convertible note bridge round came after OLEO completed a $1 million seed round last year. Investors this time around were a combination of angels and small institutional investors, including Seattle’s Alliance of Angels and San Francisco-based Uniwell Ventures, and total funding to date is $2.65 million. Another funding round is planned for 2020, according to co-founder and CEO Skyler Bissell. Bissell has a tech background, having spent time as… Read More]]>OLEO flavored tea mixes with CBD. (OLEO Photo)

OLEO, the Seattle-based makers of CBD-infused mixers for beverages, has raised $1.5 million in a recent funding round and has an eye on expanding its product line and retail reach.

The convertible note bridge round came after OLEO completed a $1 million seed round last year. Investors this time around were a combination of angels and small institutional investors, including Seattle’s Alliance of Angels and San Francisco-based Uniwell Ventures, and total funding to date is $2.65 million. Another funding round is planned for 2020, according to co-founder and CEO Skyler Bissell.

Bissell has a tech background, having spent time as a software developer at Porch and as a brand specialist at Amazon. OLEO was founded in 2015 and, according to its website, its proprietary technology “converts hemp extract into a flavorless powder that dissolves quickly in cold water, has no bitter aftertaste, and is highly bioaccessible.”

The company, which has 15 full-time employees and is currently hiring, sells its drink mixes in more than 600 retailers across the U.S. They’ve also established Powered by OLEO partnerships with several brands. A line of flavored drink mixes includes coconut and three rooibos tea extracts — raspberry, passion fruit, and tangerine. The mixes are available for $19.99 per box of six single-serve packets on the OLEO website.

THC products are also a future possibility for the brand, Bevnet reported.

CBD-infused products are a hot trend everywhere, as the naturally occurring chemical in cannabis is being credited with providing relief from inflammation, chronic pain, anxiety and more. And Bissell isn’t the only tech veteran attracted by the craze.

]]>Senators scrutinize Amazon Delivery Service Partners program after reports of accidents and labor law violationshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/senators-scrutinize-amazon-delivery-service-partners-program-reports-accidents-labor-law-violations/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 16:49:41 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520874Three U.S. Senators are demanding answers from Amazon about its Delivery Service Partners program, the network of independent delivery companies that helps get packages to customers’ doors. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Sherrod Brown sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos this week with a series of detailed questions on the program. They’re concerned that Amazon’s third-party contractor “allows the company to run its delivery service virtually unregulated.” Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners comprise a network of independent companies that deliver Amazon packages but are not part of the company. Some are impossible to recognize as affiliated with Amazon… Read More]]>Amazon debuted its new Delivery Service Partners program in June 2018 in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

Three U.S. Senators are demanding answers from Amazon about its Delivery Service Partners program, the network of independent delivery companies that helps get packages to customers’ doors.

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, and Sherrod Brown sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos this week with a series of detailed questions on the program. They’re concerned that Amazon’s third-party contractor “allows the company to run its delivery service virtually unregulated.”

Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners comprise a network of independent companies that deliver Amazon packages but are not part of the company. Some are impossible to recognize as affiliated with Amazon while others drive Amazon-branded vans that the company provides.

The Senators claim that through the program, “Amazon has created a system of deception — using a variety of underhanded tactics to skirt Department of Transportation (DOT) oversight and legal accountability.”

The letter is the latest example of growing skepticism from lawmakers and regulators about the independent contractors that power much of the tech industry. It’s also one of several letters from Senators that Amazon is fielding as Big Tech endures scrutiny on a range of issues, from competitive concerns to user data privacy.

Driving the story: BuzzFeed News published a report last month describing a delivery network rife with violations of labor laws that — under pressure from Amazon — has resulted in accidents on numerous occasions. The New York Times and ProPublica conducted an investigation on the same topic. According to the joint report, there have been more than 60 accidents since 2015 involving Amazon delivery contractors.

Background: As Amazon grew its Prime program, the company needed a more robust delivery network to fulfill the promise of two-day shipping that made the annual membership so popular. Amazon began testing contract couriers in 2014 and launched its Flex program the following year. Flex drivers — also classified as independent contractors — deliver packages for Amazon using their own vehicles.

In 2018, Amazon launched a new initiative to encourage more entrepreneurs to start delivery businesses. DSPs, as they’re known, operate independently but get support and training from Amazon, and can take advantage of deals negotiated by Amazon for insurance, mobile devices, data plans, uniforms and vehicle leases for Prime-branded vans. Those vans can only be used to deliver Amazon packages.

What lawmakers are asking: The Senators sent Bezos a list of questions about the Delivery Service Partners program, demanding more detail on how Amazon contracts with third-party couriers, how the company ensures compliance with labor laws, and whether workers should be able to unionize. They also want Amazon to release a list of its Delivery Service Partners publicly. The letter asks for a response by Sept. 27.

What Amazon says: An Amazon spokesperson stood by the company’s safety and liability practices in a statement provided to GeekWire:

Amazon is proud of our strong safety and labor compliance record across our transportation network of employees and contractors, and we continue to drive improvements that benefit our transportation providers, our customers and the public. We have strict requirements for safety and labor wages and working conditions that meet or exceed the law. We also require comprehensive insurance, competitive wages, working hours and numerous other safeguards for our delivery service providers and regularly audit to ensure compliance. Safety is and will remain Amazon’s top priority as evidenced by the vast percentage of deliveries that arrive on time and without incident.

Don’t expect fast shipping to slow down: Despite concerns, Amazon and its competitors aren’t likely to rein in their super-fast shipping programs. One-day shipping is costly in more ways than one, but the promised return is difficult for e-commerce companies to ignore. One analyst from RBC Capital Markets predicts one-day shipping could generate up to an additional $24 billion in total annual revenue for Amazon. That’s an increase of about 10 percent, based on the company’s 2018 results.

Note this: Amazon isn’t the only Seattle tech company facing scrutiny for building a work-around in a traditionally regulated industry. Dolly — an app that connects people who need help moving with helpers who have the vehicles and muscle to get the job done — found itself in a similar position last year. Washington state regulators ordered Dolly to cease operations in early 2018, ruling that the company was a “household goods carrier,” operating without the proper license and requirements. There are safety standards in place that apply to traditional moving and delivery businesses. Dolly is working with Washington officials to resolve the dispute.

Big picture: Some of the world’s most powerful tech companies rely on a corps of independent contractors to make their businesses work. It’s a practice that once flew under the radar but that chapter in the innovation economy’s history is over. California lawmakers just passed a bill that makes it harder for gig work companies, like Uber, to classify their workers as independent contractors and other jurisdictions are considering similar laws. Officials are concerned that the social safety net is fraying as more work becomes contingent and fewer workers are protected by labor standards written for an era when they were employees of the companies they worked for.

]]>Cybersecurity advice: How local government entities and employees can avoid costly hacks https://www.geekwire.com/2019/cybersecurity-advice-local-government-entities-employees-can-avoid-costly-hacks/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 14:50:22 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520834What is the most popular password in the Pacific Northwest? Seahawks12, or some variation thereof, according to federal cybersecurity advisor Ronald Watters. That hackers can easily guess potential security codes of local government employees who cheer for the local NFL team is just one of the many headaches with which Watters must contend in his effort to secure the region’s state, local, and tribal governments from digital threats. Watters, who covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, spoke on Thursday in downtown Seattle at a government cybersecurity forum hosted by… Read More]]>From left to right: Route Fifty Senior Editor Alisha Powell Gillis; FBI Special Agent Kevin Brennan; Secret Service Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Germain; and Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Advisor Ronald Watters. (Greg Scruggs Photos)

What is the most popular password in the Pacific Northwest? Seahawks12, or some variation thereof, according to federal cybersecurity advisor Ronald Watters.

That hackers can easily guess potential security codes of local government employees who cheer for the local NFL team is just one of the many headaches with which Watters must contend in his effort to secure the region’s state, local, and tribal governments from digital threats.

Watters, who covers Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, spoke on Thursday in downtown Seattle at a government cybersecurity forum hosted by news site Route Fifty. He described his mission in stark terms that any politician can understand: “I’m here to make you more resilient so you don’t end up above the fold in the Seattle Times.”

That threat is real, especially hefty ransomware payments that have cast an unfavorable spotlight on cities such as Atlanta and Baltimore in the past 18 months.

The Washington state experience tracks with what Kevin Brennan, a special agent with the FBI’s Seattle field office, has observed.

“Ransomware has shifted from the corporate environment to nonprofits and governments,” he said.

The private sector has largely made the necessary investments to secure their systems in light of the toll on profits, he said, but governments have lagged behind and shown a willingness to pay ransoms in the four-to-five figure range. However, with hackers increasingly demanding six-to-seven figure ransoms, he sees an increased need for government officials to beef up their proactive cybersecurity measures.

But cash-strapped local governments struggle to justify those investments. Watters described a hypothetical scenario in which a county IT department — which could be just one person in a smaller jurisdiction — requests $145,000 for an IPS, IDS, and a web proxy.

“The commissioner is going to ask ‘why?’ because they’ve never been hacked,” Watters said. “The correct phase is: You haven’t been hacked yet.”

At the same time, Watters cautioned that purchasing big-ticket cybersecurity products will not solve the problem alone.

“Don’t put in your budget money for a Forescout device at $245,000 and not budget $40,000 to train the people to operate the $245,000 device — or you have a really pretty box that blinks at you,” he said.

Even for relatively well-resourced jurisdictions, simple nudges that affect behavior at the keyboard and keep employees on high alert can be far more effective than expensive cybersecurity bells and whistles.

“We want to make sure the county leaders understand and send the message that we are the first line of defense,” said Snohomish County Chief Information Officer Viggo Forde.

He cited the recent installation of an industry-standard banner on Office 365 that informs users when a message originates from an outside organization. Those kinds of decisions, he said, “start the water cooler and lunch table talk where everyone complains about the banner that IT forces on them.” But those minor annoyances have paid off with several recent near misses from phishing attacks.

“Because of the alert behavior that individuals demonstrated, it allowed us to react much more quickly than we otherwise could have,” Forde said.

Watters, who has worked with dozens of Pacific Northwest governments on improving their cybersecurity, underscored the national resource for local governments facing cyberthreats, the Department of Homeland Security-sponsored Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center.

His counterpart at the Secret Service’s Seattle field office, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Germain, pointed to a regional standout that he advised: Montana-based Flathead Electric Cooperative, which he said faces up to 5,000 attacks daily.

“For an electric co-op, they have a very robust cybersecurity program right down to the linemen who are stringing power lines for them on a daily basis,” he said. “They host biannual training on cybersecurity. That’s their culture.”

If an electric co-op can institutionalize cybersecurity awareness, then it seems any local government entity can take a more defensive posture.

]]>Microsoft and Disney aim to speed up movie and TV production with new ‘scene-to-screen’ cloud dealhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/microsoft-disney-aim-speed-movie-tv-production-new-scene-screen-cloud-deal/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 13:44:31 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520850Microsoft and The Walt Disney Co. agreed to a five-year deal to leverage the tech giant’s cloud prowess to speed up production of TV and movies. The companies will work on cloud-based solutions to accelerate “production and postproduction processes, or from ‘scene to screen,’” according to a press release. Microsoft cited a partnership with media technology provider Avid, where it has built tools for collaborative editing, content archiving, active backup and production continuity, as examples of what it could do with Disney. “By moving many of our production and postproduction workflows to the cloud, we’re optimistic that we can create… Read More]]>(GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Microsoft and The Walt Disney Co. agreed to a five-year deal to leverage the tech giant’s cloud prowess to speed up production of TV and movies.

The companies will work on cloud-based solutions to accelerate “production and postproduction processes, or from ‘scene to screen,’” according to a press release. Microsoft cited a partnership with media technology provider Avid, where it has built tools for collaborative editing, content archiving, active backup and production continuity, as examples of what it could do with Disney.

“By moving many of our production and postproduction workflows to the cloud, we’re optimistic that we can create content more quickly and efficiently around the world,” Jamie Voris, CTO of Disney Studios, said in a statement. “Through this innovation partnership with Microsoft, we’re able to streamline many of our processes so our talented filmmakers can focus on what they do best.”

Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft’s U.S. division, said the “cloud has reached a tipping point for the media industry.” Variety noted that the two companies are already working together, and the first movies using the cloud technology could debut in the next 12 to 18 months.

Disney is less than two months away from launching its highly anticipated new streaming service. In addition to the new deal with Microsoft, Disney is also working with rival Amazon, choosing Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider in 2017.

]]>CryptoKitties maker Dapper Labs raises $11M to build a blockchain for gaming and entertainmenthttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/cryptokitties-maker-dapper-labs-raises-11m-build-blockchain-gaming-entertainment/
Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:25:47 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520842Dapper Labs raised $11 million to continue branching out from the product that made it famous: the popular CryptoKitties digital collectibles. The two-year-old Vancouver B.C. startup will use the funds to build Flow, a blockchain product for the gaming and entertainment industries that will launch next year. Dapper Labs is working on the project with some big-name partners, including Warner Music and gaming heavyweights Ubisoft and Animoca Brands. “After almost two years of research, we’re excited to share Flow with the world,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. “Flow is a blockchain built from the ground up to support… Read More]]>(Dapper Labs Photo)

Dapper Labs raised $11 million to continue branching out from the product that made it famous: the popular CryptoKitties digital collectibles.

The two-year-old Vancouver B.C. startup will use the funds to build Flow, a blockchain product for the gaming and entertainment industries that will launch next year. Dapper Labs is working on the project with some big-name partners, including Warner Music and gaming heavyweights Ubisoft and Animoca Brands.

“After almost two years of research, we’re excited to share Flow with the world,” said Roham Gharegozlou, CEO of Dapper Labs. “Flow is a blockchain built from the ground up to support high performance ecosystems of apps and games without compromising decentralization. Bitcoin and Ethereum show how crypto can make the world of finance more open and transparent; Flow will do the same for consumers of entertainment and culture.”

Dapper Labs hopes to replicate the early viral success of CryptoKitties, digital cats that can be collected and breeded, with Flow. Once describes by The New York Times as “digital Beanie Babies,” CryptoKitties is based on the idea of digital scarcity — a new take on trading and collecting baseball or Pokémon cards, for example. Though the craze has abated somewhat, at one point in 2017 the frenzy significantly slowed the Ethereum blockchain network where the collectibles are bought due to the sheer volume of transactions.

Forbes reported that Flow is designed to handle a greater volume of transactions than Ethereum. Details about the entertainment and gaming partnerships were not available, but the companies hinted at building digital collectibles around musicians and popular games.

“The main goal is to create new avenues where the fans of our artists can explore their fandom, and engage with the artists in new and different ways that they haven’t done before.” Warner Music Group Senior Vice President of Global Digital Business Development Jeff Bronikowski, who also oversees the company’s innovation group, told Forbes.

Dapper Labs is working on a similar project with the NBA that will also run on Flow. NBA Top Shot will let sports fans trade memorabilia.

Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund led the round, joining big names like Google and Samsung as investors in the two-year-old startup. Also participating in the round were Accomplice, AppWorks, Autonomous Partners, Fenbushi Digital, and Warner Music Group, as well as existing investors Union Square Ventures, Google investment arm Venrock, Digital Currency Group, Animoca Brands, SV Angel, Version One and CoinFund, among others.

]]>Bigelow Aerospace and NASA test earthly mockup of interplanetary space stationhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/bigelow-aerospace-nasa-test-earthbound-mockup-interplanetary-space-station/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:48:00 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520771Bigelow Aerospace opened up its ground-based prototype for a space station module — or perhaps even a Mars transport habitat — for inspection today at its headquarters in North Las Vegas. The open house centered on the Mars Transporter Testing Unit, an all-steel mockup of the company’s expandable, fabric-covered B330 space module. For two weeks, a NASA-Bigelow team will be testing the suitability of the B330 concept for crewed deep-space missions. Bigelow’s prototype is one of six ground-based demonstration projects funded as part of NASA’s NextSTEP-2 program. The other companies building full-sized NextSTEP-2 prototypes for space habitats include Boeing, Lockheed… Read More]]>The team for the NASA-Bigelow Aerospace habitat test lines up in front of the Bigelow Mars Transporter Testing Unit at the company’s Nevada headquarters. (Bigelow Aerospace Photo)

Bigelow Aerospace opened up its ground-based prototype for a space station module — or perhaps even a Mars transport habitat — for inspection today at its headquarters in North Las Vegas.

The open house centered on the Mars Transporter Testing Unit, an all-steel mockup of the company’s expandable, fabric-covered B330 space module. For two weeks, a NASA-Bigelow team will be testing the suitability of the B330 concept for crewed deep-space missions.

Bigelow’s prototype is one of six ground-based demonstration projects funded as part of NASA’s NextSTEP-2 program. The other companies building full-sized NextSTEP-2 prototypes for space habitats include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Nanoracks.

Bigelow Aerospace has offered the much larger B330 — so named because it offers 330 cubic meters (12,000 cubic feet) of interior volume — for use as a supersized addition to the space station, a free-flying space outpost in Earth orbit, or a moon-orbiting supply depot.

The B330 is built to accommodate four people indefinitely, or five people for a months-long stay. It’s equipped with two galleys, two toilets and two independent propulsion systems that make it “the ideal habitat for a long-duration space mission,” Robert Bigelow said.

Bigelow said the first B330 could be built 42 months after the go-ahead for construction is given.

This month’s two-week test involves a team of eight NASA astronauts as well as more than 60 NASA engineers, test leads and support staff at the company’s cavernous Nevada facility.

“In contrast to the other NextSTEP Phase 2 participants, we chose to keep our ground units at our facility so we could continue to develop and test,” Bigelow said. “We also have may units that are too large and complex to feasibly transport back and forth.”

NASA isn’t likely to be the only potential customer for the B330. Bigelow has spoken repeatedly about providing space modules as research platforms for non-NASA clients, or as destinations for space tourists.

In June, Bigelow Aerospace’s service subsidiary, Bigelow Space Operations, struck a deal with SpaceX to arrange commercial rides to the International Space Station at a price of roughly $52 million a seat.

Eventually, Bigelow’s customers might well be staying on a B330, either attached to the ISS or flying on its own.

Update for 10 a.m. PT Sept. 13: In a report from The Verge, Bigelow says the SpaceX deal for trips to the International Space Station has been put on hold, due to the red tape associated with arranging such trips. Instead, Bigelow is thinking about a reality-TV show that would pick contestants to launch to a free-flying B330. Which sounds a lot like reality-TV impresario Mark Burnett’s plan for “Destination Mir” back in 2000.

]]>Inspired by the Amazon Dash button, this startup is using tech to help special needs studentshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/inspired-amazon-dash-button-startup-using-tech-help-special-needs-students/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 22:00:01 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=518884Nikody Keating launched mytaptrack because his first-grade son needed help. Keating’s son has autism and their family and educators were trying to figure out how to effectively meet his needs. “While his teachers were doing their absolute best to track behavior issues in the classroom, it took a lot of effort to manually collect that data, and it was mostly anecdotal, which is less actionable,” Keating said. “As a parent navigating the public school process, it became apparent to me that this was creating a challenge.” He wondered: “How do you make good decisions when the information you have access… Read More]]>Inspired by the Amazon Dash Button, mytaptrack uses a WiFi-enabled clicking device to track student behavior. (mytaptrack Photo)

Keating’s son has autism and their family and educators were trying to figure out how to effectively meet his needs.

“While his teachers were doing their absolute best to track behavior issues in the classroom, it took a lot of effort to manually collect that data, and it was mostly anecdotal, which is less actionable,” Keating said. “As a parent navigating the public school process, it became apparent to me that this was creating a challenge.”

He wondered: “How do you make good decisions when the information you have access to isn’t the best information?”

Keating wanted to make it easier for educators to track student behavior and learn what was working for kids and what wasn’t. But the tools most readily available — handwriting notes and using apps on phones — forced teachers to disengage from students, were time consuming and required significant tech support from school administration and coordination among staff.

Nikody Keating, founder and CEO of mytaptrack. (mytaptrack Photo)

Then he found inspiration from a completely non-education related-gadget: The Amazon Dash button. His wife used one of the now-discontinued thumb-sized devices to click and automatically reorder laundry detergent.

Keating created a similar WiFi enabled device that allows educators to quickly log behavioral events. Educators create a profile for each student, and assign three tracked behaviors: one click might log a disruptive action, two could indicate a student is working effectively on a task, and when the button is pressed and held, it could track positive peer interactions.

The data is automatically uploaded and charted to show when in the day different behaviors occurred and to track trends and changes over time. The information can be easily shared with parents, doctors, dieticians and others working to help a child.

mytaptrack is marketing directly to school districts. It costs $25 per student per month and each student gets up to two devices for free. The startup can advise districts in applying for government grants that cover some of the costs.

For younger students, teachers can carry the button on a lanyard or place it on a desk, while older students can carry the device and track behavior themselves. One of the advantages of the service is that the device can travel easily with a student from educator-to-educator, as opposed to requiring multiple teachers to download a certain app and log in to record a student’s behavior.

Keating, who has worked in technology for about two decades, had experience at Northwest companies large and small, including Microsoft, IoT business BSquare, music-focused MediaNet, and as a founder of two startups.

mytaptrack, which is based in Enumclaw, east of Tacoma, Wash., has three employees and contracts with vendors providing web services, data security and professional services. Educators can learn how to use mytaptrack through training videos on YouTube.

School districts in five states are using mytaptrack; Keating declined to say how many districts or students are using the platform.

This summer the startup raised $250,000 from angel investors, and they raised an earlier friends-and-family round that was roughly the same amount, Keating said. In coming months the company will be working to improve the tool to make it easier to record additional information such as the duration of a behavior and details about what was taking place at the time of the event.

“Our goal is to help children succeed,” said Keating, “and provide the value that we can for an industry that definitely needs our services.”

We caught up with Keating for this Startup Spotlight, a regular GeekWire feature. Continue reading for his answers to our questionnaire.

What does your company do? mytaptrack is a symptoms-tracking IoT device and online platform for children with special needs. It shares detailed, context-based data in real time with teachers, parents and doctors. Artificial intelligence is leveraged to identify data patterns and more importantly, pattern anomalies that may be a concern for the child’s team. mytaptrack is committed to providing private, secure, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) compliant solutions for children nationwide.

Inspiration hit us when: I believe inspiration hits us when we transform the challenges life throws at us into something that can help millions of people. For me, it was my wife and I struggling to get our son, who has autism, the best education possible. He’s bright, but some of his symptoms — including absence seizures, which are characterized by brief, sudden lapses in attention — create barriers to his learning. Once we were able to accurately track and treat those symptoms, it allowed him to better engage in school.

My inspiration was seeing my wife ordering laundry detergent with an Amazon Dash button — that clicked for me. I knew I could reconfigure an IoT button to track my son’s data and pair it with an online dashboard to find out what was going on with him right away in the moment.

VC, Angel or Bootstrap: Angel. We’ve found a smart group of individuals from the worlds of tech, finance and child development, two of whom are also parents of a child with special needs. They saw the value in this solution, and in new ed-tech overall.

Our ‘secret sauce’ is: Our secret sauce is our mytaptrack button and its patent-pending usage. mytaptrack is not an app so it doesn’t require the purchase of expensive cell phones or tablets by school districts. It can be easily handed off between teachers, paraeducators, special educators and even gym teachers.

The information can be easily shared between the child’s entire support team inside and outside of the school. With time-stamped and context-rich data, special educators and behavior analysts can more effectively provide advice and support for diverse learners. As personalized learning continues to become more and more essential in our society, mytaptrack makes it possible. Finally, parents and teachers can have more effective conversations based on a foundation of data collected, rather than the impression of what was remembered in a classroom. And doctors, therapists and nutritionists can validate the effects of their prescriptions and advice based on that data.

The smartest move we’ve made so far: Working with educators and behavior analysts cross the country to build a feedback loop focused on how we can best support their needs.

The biggest mistake we’ve made so far: Initially expecting a sales cycle for the B2G (business to government) education sector that’s comparable to B2C or B2B, when in fact it is much slower.

Which leading entrepreneur or executive would you most want working in your corner? Bill Gates and Andrew Yang, entrepreneur, philanthropist and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Gates for his obvious experience in health, disability and special needs-related issues, as well as technology that pushes the boundaries of the possible and the practical; and Yang, who is the father of a child with special needs, for his experience accelerating early stage growth brands.

Our favorite team-building activity is: I personally love a good conference call. We can get together to share ideas for building out new capabilities or partnerships. A little something is always lost in translation via email so it’s nice to hear the intonation and intention in someone’s voice when they get excited about a new idea.

The biggest thing we look for when hiring is: A diverse background. I find the more diverse the candidate, the more they are driven by passion and shaped by empathy.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to other entrepreneurs just starting out: Just start somewhere. Every great idea started at someone’s kitchen table, in their garage or dorm room. Don’t wait another year. Take that first baby step and then slowly surround yourself with people who are great at doing everything else you need done.

]]>Block by block, ambitious new ‘Minecraft: The Exhibition’ will celebrate game at Seattle’s MoPOPhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/block-block-ambitious-new-minecraft-exhibition-will-celebrate-game-seattles-mopop/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 21:33:44 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520750Are these the building blocks for museum exhibition success? The Museum of Pop Culture announced Thursday that “Minecraft: The Exhibition” is coming to the Paul Allen-founded institution next month as a celebration of the massively popular video game’s 10th anniversary. MoPOP is teaming with Mojang, the Swedish game development studio that created “Minecraft” in 2009. Microsoft acquired the franchise and folded it into Xbox Game Studios in 2014 for $2.5 billion. With over 91 million unique “Minecraft” players engaged across all platforms and over 176 million copies sold worldwide, it’s the best-selling video game in history. The immersive exhibition is… Read More]]>(MoPOP Image)

Are these the building blocks for museum exhibition success? The Museum of Pop Culture announced Thursday that “Minecraft: The Exhibition” is coming to the Paul Allen-founded institution next month as a celebration of the massively popular video game’s 10th anniversary.

MoPOP is teaming with Mojang, the Swedish game development studio that created “Minecraft” in 2009. Microsoft acquired the franchise and folded it into Xbox Game Studios in 2014 for $2.5 billion. With over 91 million unique “Minecraft” players engaged across all platforms and over 176 million copies sold worldwide, it’s the best-selling video game in history.

The immersive exhibition is designed for players and non-players of all ages and will feature life-size Minecraft creatures, scenic backdrops, a day-night lighting cycle, audio effects, and a gallery score. At over 6,000 square feet, it’s among the most ambitious exhibitions produced by MoPOP.

“Minecraft is not only a game that allows for unlimited creativity and exchange of ideas, it also promotes inclusiveness and equality, which are core to MoPOP’s mission,” Brooks Peck, senior curator of MoPOP, said in a news release.

“Minecraft: The Exhibition” posters. (MoPOP Images)

For those who have played or watched their kids play the game, the exhibition will reportedly make visitors feel as if they have stepped inside the blocky world of “Minecraft.” Scenes, patterns, colors, and textures are informed by actual in-game builds and 15 life-size characters from the game will include Creeper and Enderman.

Visitors can go hands-on at a crafting table to face off against a Minecraft Zombie and game stations will allow players to try the game. Numerous films will feature interviews with the game’s creative team, builders, and community members.

Exhibition tickets go on sale starting Tuesday and it will run for a year at MoPOP. More details here.

]]>Coinme reels in $1.5M to grow cryptocurrency ATM networkhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/coinme-reels-1-5m-grow-cryptocurrency-atm-network/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 21:15:55 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520733Seattle startup Coinme raised $1.5 million to fund the growth of its cryptocurrency ATM network in the U.S. and internationally. The fresh cash, which is the first wave of a newly opened Series A round, comes from Xpring, a developer initiative from Ripple that invests in cryptocurrency startups, as well as the Blockchain Finance Fund. Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist said the 25-person company will use the money to acquire licenses in 21 additional states. In January, Coinme joined forces with Coinstar to let people purchase cryptocurrencies with cash. Once Coinme has acquired additional state licenses, it can “turn on” the… Read More]]>Through a partnership with Coinstar, Coinme has grown its cryptocurrency kiosk network to over 2,600 locations. (Coinme Map)

Seattle startup Coinme raised $1.5 million to fund the growth of its cryptocurrency ATM network in the U.S. and internationally. The fresh cash, which is the first wave of a newly opened Series A round, comes from Xpring, a developer initiative from Ripple that invests in cryptocurrency startups, as well as the Blockchain Finance Fund.

Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist said the 25-person company will use the money to acquire licenses in 21 additional states. In January, Coinme joined forces with Coinstar to let people purchase cryptocurrencies with cash. Once Coinme has acquired additional state licenses, it can “turn on” the ability to buy cryptocurrencies at Coinstar kiosks in those states.

Coinme CEO Neil Bergquist. (Coinme photo)

“We have a global market opportunity, an early lead, and now is the time to scale,” said Bergquist in an email. The new financing is in addition to $3 million in convertible debt that the company raised previously.

Bergquist said the company has secured state licenses for financial institutions, implemented controls, and undergone tests including an anti-money laundering audit. “I’m pleased to say we’ve passed every time,” he said. “The majority of the cryptocurrency ATM operators in the U.S. are unlicensed which we believe is a short-term strategy.”

(Coinme Photo)

After peaking near the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin fell dramatically throughout 2018. The cryptocurrency mounted a recovery this year and currently sits at $10,335 per bitcoin.

Despite the hurdles, Bergquist remains optimistic. “Soon people will be utilizing digital currencies and not even know it, whether it be through a peer-to-peer remittance app or as a result of their financial institution storing their dollars as a digital asset on a blockchain so it can be moved 24/7, instantly and freely,” he said. “As infrastructure companies like Coinme help digital currencies ‘cross the chasm,’ adoption will continue at an accelerated pace.”

]]>Tech Moves: Goldman Sachs snags AWS exec; Vicis names COO; Leafly, Jama, FlavorCloud hire product chiefshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/tech-moves-goldman-sachs-snags-aws-exec-vicis-names-coo-leafly-jama-flavorcloud-hire-product-chiefs/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 19:31:29 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520407— Goldman Sachs hired former AWS exec Marco Argenti as co-chief information officer and former Verizon chief technology officer Atte Lahtiranta as CTO. Argenti is the former vice president of technology at AWS, a role he held since 2013. He also worked at Nokia and was CEO of mobile company Dada S.p.A. Lahtiranta led technology at Verizon Media Group, formerly known as Oath, and was an engineer and architect at Yahoo prior to that. “With the excellent work already under way across the organization, the firm will benefit significantly from the considerable experience and best practices that both Marco and… Read More]]>Marco Argenti. (Goldman Sachs Photo)

Argenti is the former vice president of technology at AWS, a role he held since 2013. He also worked at Nokia and was CEO of mobile company Dada S.p.A.

Lahtiranta led technology at Verizon Media Group, formerly known as Oath, and was an engineer and architect at Yahoo prior to that.

“With the excellent work already under way across the organization, the firm will benefit significantly from the considerable experience and best practices that both Marco and Atte bring in cloud computing and core engineering,” Goldman executives wrote in an email to employees.

Argenti previously co-founded two startups and is a board member for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He is also the lead guitarist in the Seattle-based alternative rock band Element47.

Goldman is one of many banks making big moves into cloud computing, despite security challenges highlighted by the massive Capital One data breach in July.

Bill Shadle. (Vicis Photo)

— Vicis, the Seattle-based maker of high-tech football helmets, hired Bill Shadle as chief operating officer. Shadle was most recently vice president of operations at Kymeta Corporation, a Seattle-area startup that creates technology for satellite communications. He also worked in operations at EMC Isilon and spent 15 years at Hewlett-Packard.

“As a Seattle native growing up playing football, I am passionate about the innovation and technology that VICIS can offer athletes of all ages. The ability to contribute to society in a meaningful way really resonates with me,” Shadle said in an email.

In addition to Shadle, Vicis also hired Brian Matakis as vice president of marketing as well as Claes Broqvist as vice president of international. Matakis was most recently managing director at advertising firm R/GA where he worked with Nike and other clients including Amazon, Starbucks and Facebook. Broqvist comes from Oberalp, an outdoor company that owns brands such as Dynafit, Wild Country and Salewa.

“I couldn’t be more excited to have Ritch, Andy and Isabel join our world-class board of directors,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a statement. “Their expertise across global technology, retail and customer experience at scale will accelerate our drive to innovate in a way that’s relevant to our customers and inspiring to our partners.”

David Cotter. (Leafly Photo)

— Dave Cotter signed on with marijuana intelligence startup Leafly as chief product officer. In July, Leafly named Leslie Grandy to the same position, but Grandy left the company after a month for personal reasons, the company said. Leafly also recently hired Kirk Beardsley as chief operating officer.

Cotter founded Seattle e-commerce startup MessageYes, a Madrona Venture Labs spinout that was acquired by Nordstrom in 2018. He spent the past year-and-a-half as a vice president at Nordstrom. Prior to that, Cotter was a general manager at Amazon Web Services and worked at Zulily, BEA and RealNetworks.

“The chance to jump into an industry that moving fast and expanding rapidly to build products that will improve the lives of millions of users is incredibly exciting,” Cotter said in a statement. “I’m thrilled to bring my passion for breakthrough technology to Leafly as it evolves from not just a world-class cannabis information site, but becomes the world’s destination to discover, find and purchase legal cannabis products and services.”

Amy Morgan. (FlavorCloud Photo)

— International shipping startup FlavorCloud landed Amy Morgan as chief product officer. Morgan comes from tax automation startup Avalara, where she was a vice president working on customs and cross-border tax compliance. She also honed her global trade skills at Amazon, Costco Wholesale, Nordstrom and Microsoft.

“Today, selling online means selling everywhere and retailers need to be able to manage not only the physical shipping but country-specific compliance activities and be able to handle international returns. FlavorCloud’s platform successfully solves this notoriously difficult problem and simplifies the process using the latest technology,” Morgan said in a statement.

“With deep enterprise software experience in Product Lifecycle Management and IT Systems Management, Josh, Stuart, and Dave bring the necessary expertise to scale their teams while keeping customer success as our number one priority,” Jama CEO Scott Roth said in a statement.

Robert Dietrich. (PMI Photo)

— Pacific Market International (PMI), the maker of Stanley thermoses, hired Robert Dietrich as vice president of global e-commerce. Dietrich was most recently senior vice president of marketing at Bodybuilding.com and was an e-commerce and marketing executive at Renfro Corporation.

“Developing and executing an e-commerce and digital marketing strategy for such an established and iconic brand is a unique and exciting opportunity. I look forward to building on the brand’s extraordinary heritage, and positioning Stanley as the brand-of-choice for future generations,” Dietrich said in a statement. Dietrich will be based out of the company’s Seattle headquarters.

Barbara Hagen. (ThriftBooks Photo)

— Seattle-area online used books retailer Thriftbooks brought on Barbara Ann Hagenas vice president of sales and marketing. Hagen was previously a vice president at The Mars Agency, where she led the agency’s marketing efforts for clients such as T-Mobile and Samsung. Prior to that, she led advertising for Microsoft’s retail stores and for Target’s hardlines businesses.

“Thriftbooks is the ideal combination of a profitable eCommerce consumer brand, with a compelling value proposition, fueled by sophisticated data analytics,” Hagen said in a statement. “As a data-driven marketer, I look forward to leveraging my experience to drive continued sales growth and impactful marketing strategies at Thriftbooks.”

]]>Lift Aircraft reports progress on eVTOL testing, with Austin launch (and Seattle stopover) in mindhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/lift-aircraft-reports-progress-evtol-testing-austin-launch-seattle-stopover-mind/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:59:35 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520667It’s been nine months since Lift Aircraft announced its plan to field an 18-rotor, electric-powered copter for fun flights, and nearly six months since the company’s Hexa aircraft shared a photo op with Jeff Bezos at Amazon’s MARS conference — but Lift’s CEO says the Hexa project is still on track to take on its first customers by the end of this year. Matt Chasen, a veteran of the startup world and a former Boeing engineer, says his company is planning to offer the first round of trial flights in its headquarters city of Austin, Texas. The original idea was… Read More]]>Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tries out the seat in Lift Aircraft’s Hexa ultralight during Amazon’s MARS conference in March. (Lift Aircraft Photo)

Matt Chasen, a veteran of the startup world and a former Boeing engineer, says his company is planning to offer the first round of trial flights in its headquarters city of Austin, Texas.

The original idea was to take the Hexa, which will be classified as a powered ultralight aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration, on a 25-city tour.

“Securing great places to fly in each city is not super easy but we’re planning to go to LA, SF and SD [Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego] in the first few months of next year, and will likely time our tour through Seattle for summer,” Chasen said in an email.

The business model for Lift’s electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft, also known as an eVTOL craft, is different from that of bigger eVTOL manufacturers such as Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing subsidiary. Instead of building multi-passenger air taxis, Hexa is designed as a one-seater that would take passengers on eight- to 15-minute flights over scenic and uncongested areas near major metro areas, tourist destinations and entertainment hubs.

Lift has been signing up customers via its website, and taking refundable deposits at the discounted rate of $149 to hold their place.

Over the past few months, Chasen has had to reassure some of Lift’s would-be fliers that the test program is continuing to move ahead. “Some updates would be nice,” one customer wrote on Lift’s online discussion forum last month, “otherwise it starts to look like a well-organized scam.”

On the forum, Chasen said he’ll be upping his game on providing updates. And in his email to GeekWire, he said the team was “making great progress with development and flight testing.”

“There are still a lot of uncertainties as we’re getting into our first, low-rate production soon, and flight testing is always unpredictable — but we are on track to start our first customer trial flights late this year in Austin,” Chasen wrote.

Just for fun, Bezos and Chasen could set up a friendly wager on which will go into U.S. commercial operation first: Lift’s Hexa ultralight, or Amazon’s delivery drones.

]]>This island town is building a public broadband network. Is it a model for bridging digital divide?https://www.geekwire.com/2019/small-island-town-building-public-broadband-network-model-bridging-digital-divide/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:33:52 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520502Anacortes, Wash., is a picturesque town on Fidalgo Island, 90 minutes north of Seattle. Best known for its marina, it’s a popular spot for travelers to stop on their way to the San Juan Islands. But there’s something else special about this place: its municipal government, which represents a population of about 15,000 people, is about to become a high-speed internet provider. In a few weeks, Anacortes will join a growing cohort of cities, dissatisfied enough with the private sector, that have decided to offer internet service as a public utility. Advocates for so-called municipal broadband say the internet is… Read More]]>Public Works Water Maintenance workers Joe Ferris (left) and Nick Hibma install fiber optic equipment for city-owned internet service. (Photos courtesy of the City of Anacortes)

Anacortes, Wash., is a picturesque town on Fidalgo Island, 90 minutes north of Seattle. Best known for its marina, it’s a popular spot for travelers to stop on their way to the San Juan Islands. But there’s something else special about this place: its municipal government, which represents a population of about 15,000 people, is about to become a high-speed internet provider.

In a few weeks, Anacortes will join a growing cohort of cities, dissatisfied enough with the private sector, that have decided to offer internet service as a public utility.

Advocates for so-called municipal broadband say the internet is as vital to daily life as electricity or clean water — and they want to see it provided in the same way. Anacortes and other municipal broadband pioneers will provide a test case and, if successful, could be a model for bridging a widening digital divide between urban and rural communities.

Establishing a municipal broadband network is no small challenge, judging from Seattle’s repeated attempts. The city’s partnership with Cincinnati-based Gigabit Squared, promising to bring gigabit Internet to thousands of residents, crumbled in 2013 after the company failed to raise enough money to implement a high-speed Internet network using the city’s dormant dark fiber network.

Officials in Anacortes have spent the past few years researching how to become an internet provider, creating a plan, and building the infrastructure necessary. This month, the city plans to pilot service in three areas. If all goes well, they will expand the service area with the goal of providing internet to the entire community by 2023.

Jim Lemberg is managing the Anacortes broadband project. (Photo courtesy of City of Anacortes)

“The internet of things is coming and although we don’t know exactly — really we don’t even know vaguely — what the world will look like in 2050, it’s going to require high-speed connectivity,” said Jim Lemberg, the manager of the Anacortes broadband project.

The service will cost residential customers $39 per month for 100 megabit-per-second service and $69 for gigabit speeds. Businesses will pay $89 or $149 per month for those speeds. The prices are comparable to a new service that Fort Collins, Colo. is rolling out. Voters in the mountain town approved a municipal broadband plan despite an opposition campaign from cable giants.

There are at least 55 municipal networks serving 109 communities with publicly owned internet in the U.S., according to the Institute for Self-Reliance, a non-profit that works to support local economies. Private internet providers are pushing back on the trend, often lobbying for laws that prevent cities from building broadband networks. Nineteen states have laws or barriers in place that restrict local jurisdictions from implementing municipal broadband, according to the nonprofit.

Researchers at Harvard University found that municipal broadband networks typically charge lower rates and are more transparent about pricing than their private equivalents in a 2018 study.

Municipal broadband has caught on in several Oregon cities, including Sandy, a town that Anacortes officials visited during their due diligence phase. Several communities in Washington state are also considering public internet programs, according to the Institute for Self Reliance.

Anacortes is the first American city to use a technique for installing fiber optic cable using existing water lines. Officials chose that method because it’s less expensive and faster to run the cables.

“This technique is designed specifically to utilize our existing water infrastructure for the deployment of fast fiber optic communication links, with minimum disruption than traditional techniques,” said Nicole Tesch, an administrative manager at the Anacortes Public Works Division.

“Just as water, sewer, and public safety are considered essential public services, broadband access is vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in a community,” she added.

Funding for the project comes from the city’s general fund surpluses. Lemberg says Anacortes will recover its costs in about 15 years.

“This is the reason why the numbers work for a municipality,” he said. “Because a government entity, like a city, is willing to consider a very extended payback period whereas a traditional service provider is going to, broadly speaking, want to recover their invested capital in a period ranging from 18 to 36 months. These kinds of projects typically do not attract the attention of the commercial service provider just because the numbers aren’t going to work.”

]]>GeekWire Elevator Pitch Ep. 2: Transportation startups compete on 32-second journey to top of Seattle’s iconic Smith Towerhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/geekwire-elevator-pitch-ep-2-transportation-startups-compete-32-second-journey-top-seattles-iconic-smith-tower/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:30:01 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520585We’re back with a new episode of Elevator Pitch, the GeekWire show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts in the 32 seconds it takes to travel to the top of Seattle’s original skyscraper: The Smith Tower. The clock is ticking and the judges are probing as we look to pick a winner among three dynamic entrepreneurial ideas in the transportation and mobility sector. Watch the second episode of Elevator Pitch Season 2 and vote for your favorite pitch below. In today’s episode, we hear from Designated Driver, a year-old Portland startup that’s bringing a human touch to autonomous vehicles… Read More]]>GeekWire Elevator Pitch Episode 2 contestants, from left: Manuela Papadopol of Designated Driver; Greg Newbloom of Membrion; and Jason Atherton of Shared Technology. (GeekWire Photo / Dan DeLong)

We’re back with a new episode of Elevator Pitch, the GeekWire show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts in the 32 seconds it takes to travel to the top of Seattle’s original skyscraper: The Smith Tower.

The clock is ticking and the judges are probing as we look to pick a winner among three dynamic entrepreneurial ideas in the transportation and mobility sector.

In today’s episode, we hear from Designated Driver, a year-old Portland startup that’s bringing a human touch to autonomous vehicles and is helmed by former Microsoft and BMW marketing whiz Manuela Papadopol; Membrion, a University of Washington spinout led by chemical engineer Greg Newbloom that makes ion membranes for use in fuel cells and water desalination systems; and Shared Technology, a new moped-sharing service co-founded by Jason Atherton.

Do you agree with the decision of the judges? Share your thoughts in the comments, and vote in our reader poll below. And make sure to check out the first episode of Elevator Pitch — featuring three startups in the AgTech/Environmental Impact area — here.

Two more episodes will follow today’s show, and we’ll be back next Thursday to showcase three new entrepreneurs. Check out geekwire.com/elevatorpitch to keep up with the action, and to check out last year’s competition.

The winners from each of the four episodes will present live on stage in front of more than 900 business and tech leaders at the 2019 GeekWire Summit, taking place in downtown Seattle, Oct. 7-9. Tickets to the GeekWire Summit available here.

A big thanks to PACCAR for sponsoring season two of the Elevator Pitch, and to the Smith Tower for hosting.

]]>Windermere spinout MoxiWorks raises cash from Vector Capital to grow tech platform for brokerageshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/windermere-spinout-moxiworks-raises-cash-vector-capital-grow-platform-real-estate-brokers/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:26:10 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520584MoxiWorks, a Seattle startup that operates a platform for real estate brokers, has raised cash from private equity firm Vector Capital. The company declined to reveal the size of the “meaningful” stake or the terms of the deal. The startup plans to use the funds toward product development, sales and marketing efforts, as well as potential acquisitions. “We are thrilled to be adding Vector Capital, an experienced investor and premier financial partner, to our unique blend of existing shareholders, partners, and clients as we enter this monumental phase of growth,” MoxiWorks CEO York Baur said in a statement. MoxiWorks spun… Read More]]>MoxiWorks CEO York Baur. (MoxiWorks Photo)

MoxiWorks, a Seattle startup that operates a platform for real estate brokers, has raised cash from private equity firm Vector Capital. The company declined to reveal the size of the “meaningful” stake or the terms of the deal.

The startup plans to use the funds toward product development, sales and marketing efforts, as well as potential acquisitions.

“We are thrilled to be adding Vector Capital, an experienced investor and premier financial partner, to our unique blend of existing shareholders, partners, and clients as we enter this monumental phase of growth,” MoxiWorks CEO York Baur said in a statement.

MoxiWorks spun out of Windermere Real Estate more than seven years ago. The company makes customer relationship and market analysis software that helps agents perform day-to-day tasks and meet sales targets. Its software is used by 80 brokers nationwide, which collectively represent 130,000 agents.

Vector Capital manages $4 billion and has invested in tech companies such as RealNetworks, Cheetah Digital and CloudSense. Other MoxiWorks investors include Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and Long & Foster Real Estate.

“We have spent considerable time diligencing the real estate technology sector, looking for an enterprise-grade SaaS platform capable of serving the needs of top brokerages,” said Robert Amen, managing director of Vector Capital. “After meeting with dozens of companies, we determined that MoxiWorks was best positioned to capture this growing market. The company has distinguished itself through a relentless focus on its customers, resulting in extraordinary client satisfaction and deep, cross-industry relationships.”

MoxiWorks is one of several real estate startups in the Seattle region using technology to disrupt the property buying and selling process. Others include Flyhomes, Remarkably, Pro.com, Porch, JetClosing, Knock, IMPREV, and Faira — not to mention industry giants such as Zillow Group and Redfin.

MoxiWorks recently hired two business development directors, Kirsten “Kiki” Wanshura and Heather Glass. The company also partnered with Buyside last month to bring additional data analytics on homebuyers to its platform.

Baur is also the founder and president of Peninsula Heritage Productions. He previously held executives positions with the Space Needle; The TAS Group; Zango; InfoSpace; and other companies.

]]>Nomad Go raises $2.7M to help brick-and-mortar businesses use AI to level field against online retailhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/nomad-go-raises-2-7m-help-brick-mortar-businesses-use-ai-level-field-online-retail/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 17:21:19 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520595Brick-and-mortar businesses are already up against the wall when it comes to competing against the technology that fuels online competitors. Nomad Go, the Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that uses artificial intelligence and real-time data to improve operational efficiency, aims to level the playing field a bit — and $2.7 million in new funding should help. Backed by Flying Fish Partners, along with Fitz Gate Ventures and Vulcan Capital, Nomad Go announced the raise of seed capital on Thursday, which it intends to use to scale sales and expand product offerings. Flying Fish’s Heather Redman has also been added to Nomad Go’s… Read More]]>(Nomad Go screen shot)

Brick-and-mortar businesses are already up against the wall when it comes to competing against the technology that fuels online competitors. Nomad Go, the Bellevue, Wash.-based startup that uses artificial intelligence and real-time data to improve operational efficiency, aims to level the playing field a bit — and $2.7 million in new funding should help.

Backed by Flying Fish Partners, along with Fitz Gate Ventures and Vulcan Capital, Nomad Go announced the raise of seed capital on Thursday, which it intends to use to scale sales and expand product offerings.

Flying Fish’s Heather Redman has also been added to Nomad Go’s board of directors.

“Brick-and-mortar businesses today use manual tools like stop watches, surveys with tiny sample sizes, and anecdotes to make critical business decisions about their operations,” David Greschler, co-founder and CEO of Nomad Go, said in a news release. “Nomad Go provides physical commerce — such as fast casual restaurants and retail — with real-time data and business intelligence about their store operations to make changes that improve customer experience and increase their bottom line.”

Launched in 2016, Nomad Go was profiled as a “human billboard” marketing platform in a 2017 GeekWire Startup Spotlight. Today, co-founder and CRO Jonah Friedl said that it only takes a week of data from Nomad Go to help businesses identify best practices and improve such things as customer throughput, customer satisfaction, speed of service and store-by-store comparisons.

“Brick-and-mortar has been at a real disadvantage when you compare the insights they have access to versus online retailers,” Redman said. “Think of Nomad Go as Google Analytics, but for the real world.”

The investment by Flying Fish continues a streak this month for the Seattle-based venture firm. Earlier this week, Rammer.AI announced that it had raised $1.8 million in a seed round led by Flying Fish. The startup is developing software that allows companies to generate insights from voice or text conversations natively as part of their existing tools.

]]>Microsoft marketing chief to lead fundraising campaign for Seattle-area United Way branchhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/microsoft-marketing-chief-lead-fundraising-campaign-seattle-area-united-way-branch/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:00:12 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520563Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela and his wife Leigh Toner will lead the United Way King County’s fundraising campaign this year to raise money to help alleviate homelessness issues and bolster education programs. “I’m honored to carry on a proud company tradition of supporting one of the region’s most important nonprofits,” Capossela said in a statement. “As a company, Microsoft stands with people experiencing homelessness and other forms of displacement, including refugees. United Way of King County’s efforts are very much in line with our work in those areas. But beyond that, I think there’s tremendous opportunity to introduce… Read More]]>Leigh Toner and Chris Capossela will lead United Way King County’s fundraising campaign. (Microsoft Photo)

Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela and his wife Leigh Toner will lead the United Way King County’s fundraising campaign this year to raise money to help alleviate homelessness issues and bolster education programs.

“I’m honored to carry on a proud company tradition of supporting one of the region’s most important nonprofits,” Capossela said in a statement. “As a company, Microsoft stands with people experiencing homelessness and other forms of displacement, including refugees. United Way of King County’s efforts are very much in line with our work in those areas. But beyond that, I think there’s tremendous opportunity to introduce United Way to a new generation of Microsoft employees — as well as to tech employees across the region.”

Capossela joins a distinguished list of Microsoft executives to lead the fundraising drive for United Way in the Seattle area. Jeff Raikes, the former head of Microsoft Office and ex-Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CEO, and Tricia Raikes, a former marketing director at Microsoft, did it in 2006-2007. Current Microsoft President Brad Smith and his wife, attorney Kathy Surace-Smith, took the reins for the 2010-2011 campaign.

Capossela and Toner will succeed GeekWire Chairman Jonathan Sposato and his wife Heather Lowenthal — also Microsoft alumni — who were the previous leaders of the annual fundraising campaign, which kicked off this year on July 1.

Capossela, who joined Microsoft in 1991, said more than 1,300 Microsoft workers are involved in United Way’s Emerging Leaders program, which connects young professionals in the area.

Earlier this year, Microsoft pledged $500 million to address affordable housing and homelessness issues in the Seattle region. Part of that plan includes $5 million for a United Way program called Home Base, which helps people struggling to pay rent avoid eviction and homelessness.

Capossela and Toner set a fundraising goal of $41 million for this year’s campaign, topping the $36 million raised last year. Both are passionate about education; Toner serves on the Board of Trustees at Seattle Girls’ School.

We caught up with Capossela and Toner to learn more about their new roles with UWKC.

GeekWire: Why did you decide to take on this role?

Chris Capossela: There is no single way to support people who are the most in need. But as Leigh and I were making the decision about where we could have the most impact, we felt strongly that a community-led approach is the most effective way to solve our region’s challenges, which is exactly what United Way of King County delivers. It’s impressive how the organization links programs together to provide both direct services and holistic systems to address our region’s most pressing issues. They’re walking alongside people in difficult situations to provide relief.

And on top of that, UWKC is one of the best organizations, with the highest return on dollars, to make a positive impact. On average, 95 cents of every dollar you donate goes to helping build a stronger community. That’s possible thanks to a generous endowment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that offsets UWKC’s operating costs.

Leigh Toner: We strongly believe in UWKC’s commitment to build a community where families are financially stable, all students receive quality education, and homelessness is effectively eliminated. The work UWKC is doing to help students graduate is especially moving. We know poverty makes staying in school very challenging, especially at community colleges where more than half of the students are low-income.

UWKC is directly tackling that problem by expanding its Bridge to Finish program, which helps students get the services and support they need to complete their education and launch successful careers. The initiative directly targets a population of people who come from underserved groups, including first-generation students, students of color, and working parents, to ensure they have the support they need. The program started in 2017 on four campuses and supported 400 students. Today, they’re on nine campuses, and our goal this year is to help 4,000 students graduate. We feel honored to help propel this program and more with fundraising this year.

GeekWire: What are your biggest goals?

Chris Capossela: Over the last fundraising year, UWKC raised more than $36 million. Our goal is to keep that momentum going and raise $41 million over the next year.

Leigh Toner: Ultimately, we’re all part of the same community and we want to bring neighbors together to give, volunteer, and take action to help vulnerable and underserved populations in King County.

GeekWire: What role can tech companies and employees play in helping tackle the region’s most pressing issues?

Chris Capossela: We all have a responsibility to improve our local community. Looking specifically at Microsoft, the company’s contribution to UWKC has been substantial. Earlier this year, the company announced it’s making a $500 million commitment to support affordable housing efforts in the region. $5 million of that investment is going to a UWKC program called Home Base, which helps people who are struggling to pay rent avoid eviction and homelessness. This is crucial because right now 40% of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense – meaning the threat of eviction can be just one paycheck away.

We want to remind everyone that there are so many ways you can give back, including donating your money and time to those in need. For people in their 20s or 30s, we recommend checking out the Emerging Leaders program, which connects thousands of young professionals from across the area to share their ideas and passion for helping others. There’s also an opportunity to support UWKC financially through the Emerging Leaders 365 group, where members give at least $1 a day for a whole year. We currently have 1,300 Microsoft employees involved in the Emerging Leaders program—and we’d love to see that number keep growing both from Microsoft and across the region.

Leigh Toner: Anyone can give back, and there are so many opportunities to do so right in your neighborhood. This month, we’ll celebrate Day of Caring – the largest volunteer event in Washington state. Last year, more than 10,500 volunteers participated, which adds up to more than $1 million worth of volunteer labor. The work doesn’t stop there though, and there are volunteer events happening all year where you can give back. UWKC’s website has a section where you can search for volunteer events by zip code, so you don’t have to look far to help.

]]>Slack gets a Dark Mode on desktophttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/slack-gets-dark-mode-desktop/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 15:00:52 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520553Slack is adding Dark Mode to its desktop apps, doubling down on the feature that has become a major trend across the software world. Slack already offered Dark Mode on its mobile app. But, available now, users of Slack’s desktop apps on Windows, Mac and Linux, can toggle between the traditional white and purple background and a variety of darker hues. The addition of Dark Mode is part of an overhaul of the app architecture that powers Slack. Dark Mode has been among the most requested new features recently, the company said. “Dark Mode is an important feature for lots… Read More]]>(Slack Photo)

Slack is adding Dark Mode to its desktop apps, doubling down on the feature that has become a major trend across the software world.

Slack already offered Dark Mode on its mobile app. But, available now, users of Slack’s desktop apps on Windows, Mac and Linux, can toggle between the traditional white and purple background and a variety of darker hues.

The addition of Dark Mode is part of an overhaul of the app architecture that powers Slack. Dark Mode has been among the most requested new features recently, the company said.

“Dark Mode is an important feature for lots of people. It’s helpful for working at night or in low-light, and we know many need it for accessibility reasons like visual impairments, migraines or other visual disorders,” Slack Accessibility Product Manager George Zamfir, said. “Today, we’re happy to make it possible to switch to the dark side on Slack desktop apps, and to offer new Dark Mode themes.”

Dark backgrounds have become popular in recent years, with tech giants promoting the mode as an important aspect of new releases. The black backgrounds often look sleeker, and experts have touted health benefits of the setting as well.

It’s become common knowledge that blue light is disruptive to sleep cycles. For people who put in late hours, using a dark background instead of a light one reduces the amount of blue light they’re exposed to, leading to a better sleep after work is done, writes Silas S. Brown, a partially-sighted computer scientist at Cambridge University in the U.K.

Last month, Slack rival Microsoft said it planned to add Dark Mode to the entire Microsoft 365 product suite — a combination of Windows 10, Office 365 and Enterprise Mobility + Security. That push begins with Outlook on several platforms, with the iOS versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner and To-Do getting the feature soon.

]]>Would you ditch your smartphone for Teracube? Tech vets offer sustainable, affordable alternativehttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/ditch-smartphone-teracube-tech-vets-offer-sustainable-cheaper-alternative/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 15:00:13 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520431Just two days after yet another Apple event promoting another new iPhone, a small tech company in Redmond, Wash., called Teracube is launching a Kickstarter for a phone of its own, aimed at convincing consumers that they don’t need to spend big money to get the performance they expect. Teracube is billed as a cutting-edge and affordable smartphone — and the world’s first with a four-year warranty. That warranty, including accident coverage, repairs and battery replacement, is designed to eliminate the customary cycle of buying a new phone every couple of years, which in turn could help reduce electronic waste. With… Read More]]>The Teracube smartphone. (Teracube Photo)

Just two days after yet another Apple event promoting another new iPhone, a small tech company in Redmond, Wash., called Teracube is launching a Kickstarter for a phone of its own, aimed at convincing consumers that they don’t need to spend big money to get the performance they expect.

Teracube is billed as a cutting-edge and affordable smartphone — and the world’s first with a four-year warranty. That warranty, including accident coverage, repairs and battery replacement, is designed to eliminate the customary cycle of buying a new phone every couple of years, which in turn could help reduce electronic waste.

“Better for your pocket, better for the planet,” Teracube co-founder and CEO Sharad Mittal said in reciting the company’s tagline. Described as “a passionate environmentalist,” Mittal worked at Microsoft and Amazon in software engineering, and as founder of Kinivo and BlueRigger he has more than 10 years of consumer electronics design and retail experience. Fellow co-founder and vice president Anthony Tsim is a serial entrepreneur with 20 years of software and IT experience.

“I’ve always envisioned changing the disposable nature of the consumer electronics industry by designing high-quality products that last longer,” Mittal added. “We want to talk about our footprint and show people how small changes can make a huge impact.”

The Teracube creators say it takes great pictures with a dual lens back camera. (Teracube Photo)

Teracube doesn’t appear to be sacrificing performance along the way to its attractive price point. Among other features, the Android-enabled phone boasts an octa-core processor that allows for faster load times; 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM; 3400mAh battery; dual cameras; 6.2-inch full HD+ IPS display. Teracube also supports wireless providers AT&T, MetroPCS, T-Mobile, Cricket, Lyca and more.

As someone who has been designing and selling consumer electronics for more than a decade, Mittal doesn’t sweat the idea of creating a smartphone to take on those pumped out by tech giants.

“It has always been a bigger challenge on how to convince users rather than building the product itself,” Mittal said. “Users are ingrained in their phone ecosystem and have been somewhat misled by the corporate marketing that they really need a $1,000 phone to run their apps and take good pictures. Teracube is super fast, can run all your apps, and take beautiful pictures. It even has a headphone jack that everyone wants and misses!”

Teracube launched its Kickstarter Thursday with a goal of $25,000 to get things going, and potential stretch goals will be announced later on. The plan is to ship phones in December.

]]>Amazon to let anyone supply Alexa with answers; company promises safeguards against abusehttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-let-anyone-supply-alexa-answers-promises-safeguards-abuse/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 15:00:11 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520575Amazon today opened up its Alexa Answers program, which lets humans supply answers to queries that the digital brain can’t yet comprehend, to everyone. Alexa Answers first launched late last year by invitation only, following an internal test that helped add 100,000 answers to Alexa’s knowledge base. Now, Amazon customers will be able to pick areas they are passionate about and help Alexa build expertise. After signing in on the Alexa Answers website, customers can see a list of questions and apply filters like, frequently asked questions and new questions. Amazon is gamifying the experience by awarding badges and points for… Read More]]>(GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)

Amazon today opened up its Alexa Answers program, which lets humans supply answers to queries that the digital brain can’t yet comprehend, to everyone.

Alexa Answers first launched late last year by invitation only, following an internal test that helped add 100,000 answers to Alexa’s knowledge base. Now, Amazon customers will be able to pick areas they are passionate about and help Alexa build expertise.

After signing in on the Alexa Answers website, customers can see a list of questions and apply filters like, frequently asked questions and new questions. Amazon is gamifying the experience by awarding badges and points for answers that go toward monthly and weekly leaderboards.

Building up a robust question and answer database for Alexa is an important initiative as it competes with other digital assistants. One big advantage the Google Assistant has over Alexa is the backing of Google’s market-leading search engine. By filling out Alexa’s knowledge base, Amazon can create from scratch a crowdsourced, voice-activated search engine.

However, the technology world is filled with cautionary tails of people corrupting efforts to make machines smarter. YouTube, Reddit, Facebook and many more have struggled to stop disinformation and hostile behavior for years.

Amazon put several safeguards in place to make sure inaccurate or offensive content doesn’t slip into Alexa’s dialog. Amazon has automated filters to weed out offensive questions from appearing on the Alexa Answers website and prevent profanity and other offensive language from showing up in answers.

Fast Company reports that Amazon will deploy some human editors and algorithms for quality control. There is a community element as well, according to Amazon, as Alexa customers will be able to up and down vote answers as they hear them. Answers that receive a lot of down votes will be removed.

“We’re leaning into the positive energy and good faith of the contributors, and we use machine learning and algorithms to weed out the noisy few, the bad few,” Bill Barton, Amazon vice president of Alexa Information, told Fast Company. “But we’re not going to suppress the magical experience we can give to 99 customers because one person had something different in mind.”

For now, Amazon is not requiring user-supplied answers to cite where information came from. However, Alexa will note that the answers are “according to an Amazon customer,” per Fast Company.

]]>Amazon to open new air hub for delivery planes in Dallas area next monthhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/amazon-open-new-air-hub-delivery-planes-dallas-area-next-month/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 12:24:39 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520561Amazon is once again doubling down on its logistics network, with plans to open a new regional air hub in the Dallas area next month for its fleet of delivery planes. Amazon called the Regional Air Hub at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport the “first build-to-suit airport project of its kind in the Amazon Air network.” The new air hub will be able to handle multiple flights daily and play an important role in delivery sortation in the region. “We are excited to start flying to and from our new facility at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport very soon —… Read More]]>(GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Amazon is once again doubling down on its logistics network, with plans to open a new regional air hub in the Dallas area next month for its fleet of delivery planes.

Amazon called the Regional Air Hub at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport the “first build-to-suit airport project of its kind in the Amazon Air network.” The new air hub will be able to handle multiple flights daily and play an important role in delivery sortation in the region.

“We are excited to start flying to and from our new facility at the Fort Worth Alliance Airport very soon — this facility will allow us to offer even more selection and faster delivery to our customers,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air. “This is our latest investment in Texas and we look forward to hiring top talent from the local community.”

Amazon said the project will create up to 300 local jobs. Amazon has created more than 22,000 jobs in Texas since 2010, the company said. Dallas is one of six cities where Amazon will hold a “Career Day” next week, and the new air hub will be a part of that event.

As Amazon seeks to speed up shipping, headlined by a move to reduce its core delivery benefit to a one-day turnaround, its air fleet will play a major role. In June, Amazon leased an additional 15 planes, pushing the Amazon Air fleet to 70 jets by 2021.

Amazon Air launched in 2016 and now operates out of more than 20 U.S. airports. CEO Jeff Bezos helped break ground earlier this year on the $1.5 billion Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which will open in 2021.

]]>Help wanted: U.S. government is seeking advice from quantum computing expertshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/help-wanted-quantum-computing-experts-sought-advise-u-s-government/
Thu, 12 Sep 2019 02:41:58 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520521The U.S. Department of Energy is looking for experts to guide the White House and federal agencies through the weird world of quantum information science. Today’s solicitation seeks nominations to the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee, a panel that gets its mandate from legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law last December. In addition to calling for the establishment of the advisory committee, the National Quantum Initiative Act sets aside $1.2 billion over five years to support research, development and workforce training relating to quantum information science. Quantum approaches to information processing are expected to bring dramatic changes to… Read More]]>Components for IBM’s quantum computer are on display at a science conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

The U.S. Department of Energy is looking for experts to guide the White House and federal agencies through the weird world of quantum information science.

In addition to calling for the establishment of the advisory committee, the National Quantum Initiative Act sets aside $1.2 billion over five years to support research, development and workforce training relating to quantum information science.

Quantum approaches to information processing are expected to bring dramatic changes to computer science in the years ahead. While classical computers deal exclusively with binary data in the form of ones vs. zeroes, quantum computers could manipulate quantum bits — or qubits — that can hold different values simultaneously until the results are read out.

In a statement announcing the search for advisory committee members, White House chief technology officer Michael Kratsios noted that the Trump administration “has identified quantum information science as a critical ‘Industry of the Future’ that will grow the economy, enhance national security and benefit the American people.”

Paul Dabbar, under secretary for science at the Energy Department, said it’s a “very exciting time for quantum information science.”

“The National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee will be a tremendous help as we work to overcome the significant technical hurdles that remain as we work toward a quantum computer that will be useful for solving real-world problems,” Dabbar said.

The committee will provide advice and recommendations to the president, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science. Such advice will guide implementation of the National Quantum Initiative, alert the administration to trends in the field, and help policymakers determine whether national security and economic considerations are being adequately addressed.

Nominations should be submitted via email to NQIAC@science.doe.gov by Oct. 4. Perry will consider the nominations with input from Kelvin Droegemeier, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, or his designee.

According the report, non-defense spending in the AI category would be budgeted at $973.5 million for the 2020 fiscal year. Almost half of that sum — $487.6 million — would go to the National Science Foundation for research and related activities. The National Institutes of Health would get $202.5 million, and the Energy Department’s Office of Science would get $119.5 million. NASA comes in toward the low end of the spending scale with $4.8 million budgeted.

]]>In lawsuit, Amazon takes on ‘unlawful advertising scheme’ that mimics its branding and trademarkshttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/lawsuit-amazon-takes-unlawful-advertising-scheme-mimics-branding-trademarks/
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 21:20:12 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520326Amazon alleges in a new lawsuit that a group of unnamed individuals used the tech giant’s name, trademarks and branding to dupe people into clicking on links with the promise of fraudulent Amazon gift cards and other rewards that would never come. The company says in the suit that the defendants profited off email marketing campaigns they built to drive traffic to a series of advertisers and websites. On their own, email campaigns are a common and legitimate way to drive web traffic. However, the lawsuit alleges the defendants impersonated Amazon in these campaigns, by doing things like referring to… Read More]]>(GeekWire Photo)

Amazon alleges in a new lawsuit that a group of unnamed individuals used the tech giant’s name, trademarks and branding to dupe people into clicking on links with the promise of fraudulent Amazon gift cards and other rewards that would never come.

The company says in the suit that the defendants profited off email marketing campaigns they built to drive traffic to a series of advertisers and websites. On their own, email campaigns are a common and legitimate way to drive web traffic. However, the lawsuit alleges the defendants impersonated Amazon in these campaigns, by doing things like referring to people as “Amazon shoppers” to confuse them and send them to marketers, advertisers and websites to ultimately buy products with no relationship to Amazon.

“Defendants are engaged in a widespread, fraudulent marketing scheme that bombards victims with unauthorized emails and abuses Amazon’s brand to generate traffic,” according to the suit. “Defendants then profit from fees for this fraudulently generated traffic paid to them by affiliate marketing networks and advertisers.”

An example of an email using Amazon branding to get people to click a link. (Photo via court documents)

The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Seattle, represents Amazon’s latest effort to combat fraud to protect its name and reputation. Over the years, Amazon has cracked down on product reviews, banning most reviews done in exchange for free and discounted items and suing numerous groups it believes authored fake reviews.

Amazon has also sought to identify and ban counterfeit goods on its platform. In June, Amazon teamed up with Nite Ize, a Colorado-based maker of mobile accessories and LED products, to sue 11 individuals and business entities across three countries for selling counterfeit goods on the tech giant’s online store.

However, Amazon has also struggled to police activity on its platform. Last month, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal found more than 4,000 products on Amazon’s third-party marketplace that had either been banned or declared unsafe by regulators. The company responded by publishing the steps it takes to make sure third-party products are safe.

“Amazon works hard to delight our customers and we take aggressive action when we see bad actors attempting to misuse our brand to deceive unsuspecting customers,” an Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire on Wednesday. “This suit will hold these bad actors accountable and help us protect customers.”

The alleged “scheme” starts with the initial email. Emails with subject lines like “Congrats on your Amazon Loyalty Voucher!” and “We just added a one-time-credit to your Amazon account” come from addresses such as “amazon.perks@fondationeaccess.com.”

The messages aim to entice customers to click on a link. Once that happens they are re-directed through several different domains to the ultimate destination, a survey page that mimics Amazon branding.

Amazon noted in the suit that the re-directed domains “also hide Defendants’ identities, protect their infrastructure from being flagged as fraudulent, and help track the traffic.” Amazon has not identified the individuals behind the alleged scheme, referring to defendants in the lawsuit as “John Does 1-50” who get paid for sending people to websites. However, Amazon did include information about domains used in the alleged fraud as well as a unique identifier for the Google Analytics account for the defendants.

The “surveys” mimic Amazon branding. (Photo via court documents)

If the customer clicks all the way through and completes the survey, they are again sent through a series of re-directed domains to claim their “reward.” Instead of getting a free reward, they are sent to another site “where victims can purchase the product they selected on Defendants’ ‘reward’ page,” according to the suit.

The suit notes that the surveys include a disclaimer in tiny type that the website is “not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon.”

“In fact, the inclusion of this language demonstrates Defendants’ knowledge of Amazon’s exclusive right to use the Amazon Trademarks, and admits that Defendants lack any right or authority to use them,” according to court documents. “This purported disclaimer also demonstrates that Defendants’ design, display, and use of the Amazon Trademarks on their survey page is intentional and willful.”

Amazon wants the court to bar defendants from using its trademarks and branding. The tech giant wants to know how much defendants made off these marketing campaigns, force them to return the profits and pay damages.

]]>How internet lingo is changing the English language — and why it matters in the workplacehttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/internet-lingo-changing-english-language-matters-workplace/
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:08:36 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520422Canadian linguist Gretchen McCulloch is interested in how people laugh on the internet. Take the abbreviation “lol.” While it started off quite literal, with people using it to signal actual laughter, it has now taken on more of an ironic double meaning. Nowadays, a mildly annoyed person might text their friend “I hate you lol,” using the abbreviation to soften the harsh phrase. This, and many other subtleties of internet lingo, are subjects of McCulloch’s new pop linguistics book, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. McCulloch spoke about her book Tuesday evening in Seattle at Textio, a startup… Read More]]>Paul Constant (left), co-founder of the Seattle Review of Books, moderates a panel discussion with linguist Gretchen McCulloch (center) and Textio CEO Kieran Snyder at Textio’s HQ in Seattle on Tuesday. (Aria Thaker Photo)

Take the abbreviation “lol.” While it started off quite literal, with people using it to signal actual laughter, it has now taken on more of an ironic double meaning. Nowadays, a mildly annoyed person might text their friend “I hate you lol,” using the abbreviation to soften the harsh phrase.

While many people think of English as being contained in libraries of books, McCulloch sees the internet as a more appropriate metaphor for the language and its dynamism.

“When you make a post, you cause certain portions of the internet to spring into existence — the way that when you invent a new word, you cause that word to spring into existence,” she said.

Sometimes, McCulloch even goes straight to the source by asking internet denizens about new language trends. Most recently, she posted a Twitter poll asking people if they sometimes use a space before an exclamation point, and why.

Our first @xoxo question comes from @waxpancake, who wants to know whether you put a space before an exclamation mark and if so, what do you mean by it?

After McCulloch delivered a 20-minute talk on Tuesday, she joined a panel discussion alongside Textio cofounder and CEO Kieran Snyder, who is also a linguist. Paul Constant, co-founder of the Seattle Review of Books, moderated the discussion.

Textio helps companies analyze and refine their job postings to use language that is more likely to attract job applicants and improve the diversity of those candidates.

Snyder spoke about how even ostensibly “neutral” language, like professional English, can exclude people.

“When you use corporate jargon — words like stakeholders or synergy or KPIs — in how you’re communicating at work, it turns out that people of color tend to opt out of engagement,” she said. “Those words grew up in a predominantly white, corporate culture, and they developed kind of cultural significance.”

But while “formal language often wins the battle, I think informal language typically wins the war,” Snyder added. Language change has been shown to originate mostly in marginalized groups — young people, cultural minorities, girls and women, for example. “Informality is the thing that starts out as out-group, and it becomes the way we’re all talking 20 years later.”

McCulloch expressed similar thoughts on linguistic innovation.

“The prescriptive, English-teacher way of addressing language assumes that everyone has the same goals when it comes to language,” she said. “I don’t think it’s incorrect to evaluate writing and say, ‘OK, this writing did a better job and this didn’t.’ But we need to be explicit about what our goals are for individual pieces of writing — and in many cases, impressing dead people is not that goal.”

]]>After leading Mars rover missions, Steve Squyres joins Blue Origin as chief scientisthttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/leading-mars-rover-missions-steve-squyres-joins-blue-origin-chief-scientist/
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:58:02 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520396Just months after closing out the 15-year-long Opportunity rover mission on Mars, Cornell University astronomer Steve Squyres is taking advantage of a new opportunity: the post of chief scientist at Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture. Today Blue Origin confirmed that Squyres, 63, will be joining the company, which is headquartered in Kent, Wash. Squyres has been involved in NASA space missions including Voyager’s trip past the solar system’s giant planets and Magellan’s voyage to Venus. But his main claim to fame is his stint as principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers. The twin rovers, Spirit and… Read More]]>Cornell astronomer Steve Squyres, the principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers, will become Blue Origin’s chief scientist. (Cornell University Photo)

Today Blue Origin confirmed that Squyres, 63, will be joining the company, which is headquartered in Kent, Wash.

Squyres has been involved in NASA space missions including Voyager’s trip past the solar system’s giant planets and Magellan’s voyage to Venus. But his main claim to fame is his stint as principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers.

The twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, bounced onto different locations on the Red Planet’s surface in 2004, beginning missions that were baselined for 90 days. To the team’s surprise, Spirit ended up lasting six years, and Opportunity continued to send data back until the solar-powered rover went out of contact during a massive Martian dust storm in mid-2018.

The rover missions confirmed that Mars was once wetter, warmer and more hospitable to life than it is today — findings that have been expanded upon during the Curiosity rover mission that began in 2012 and is still in its prime.

Squyres was listed as a member of the Blue Moon science advisory board at the time of the unveiling.

]]>Can Uber and Lyft survive regulations that force them to treat drivers like employees?https://www.geekwire.com/2019/can-uber-lyft-survive-regulations-force-treat-drivers-like-employees/
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 17:04:39 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520337California is poised to enact a law that would force Uber and Lyft to treat drivers like employees as part of a broader push around the country to ensure app-based workers have broader labor protections. The regulatory trend is a reckoning for the gig economy, a young industry powered by cheap, independent work. State lawmakers in California approved a bill known as AB-5 on Wednesday in a move that all but guarantees the legislation will become law. AB-5 applies a new standard to determine whether workers are employees or contractors. Under it, workers are considered employees unless the way they… Read More]]>Inside Uber’s Seattle office. (GeekWire Photo / Monica Nickelsburg)

California is poised to enact a law that would force Uber and Lyft to treat drivers like employees as part of a broader push around the country to ensure app-based workers have broader labor protections. The regulatory trend is a reckoning for the gig economy, a young industry powered by cheap, independent work.

State lawmakers in California approved a bill known as AB-5 on Wednesday in a move that all but guarantees the legislation will become law. AB-5 applies a new standard to determine whether workers are employees or contractors. Under it, workers are considered employees unless the way they conduct their work is free from the hiring company’s control; the work they do is outside the scope of the company’s core business; and the worker is “customarily engaged in an independently established trade.”

Despite a down-to-the-wire fight for exemptions, the law applies to companies like Uber and Lyft. It takes effect Jan. 1.

Update:Uber’s Chief Legal Officer Tony West said the company will not reclassify drivers as employees following the vote. He believes Uber can convince the courts that “drivers’ work is outside the usual course of Uber’s business, which is serving as a technology platform for several different types of digital marketplaces.”

Lyft Communications Director Adrian Durbin said California legislators “missed an important opportunity to support the overwhelming majority of rideshare drivers who want a thoughtful solution that balances flexibility with an earnings standard and benefits,” in a statement. Uber declined to comment by publication.

Uber, Lyft, and other gig economy companies have long claimed that the bill will strike a blow to their fundamental business models. Barclays estimates that reclassifying drivers from their current status of independent contractor to employee could cost Uber and Lyft an additional $3,625 per driver, per year. That could increase Uber’s operating loss by $500 million annually and Lyft’s operating loss by $290 million, according to Barclays estimates cited by Yahoo Finance.

Seattle is another key ride-share market where Uber and Lyft both have engineering centers. The city has been mulling a tax on the companies for months, though what shape it would take remains to be seen. Seattle officials have already started extending labor protections for other categories of workers not covered by traditional employer-employee relationships. Last year, Seattle became the first city in the U.S. to introduce a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, coupled with a law that gives a minimum wage and rest breaks to thousands of nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, and other home service providers.

Employees are more expensive than independent contractors because employers are required to pay a minimum wage, unemployment, and other payroll costs. Uber warned investors about the impact such regulations could have on its business when the company went public in April.

“Our business would be adversely affected if Drivers were classified as employees instead of independent contractors,” Uber said in its IPO prospectus. The company later added, “Further, any such reclassification would require us to fundamentally change our business model, and consequently have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.”

California is in the vanguard of the gig worker protection battle but it isn’t fighting alone. New York City passed a minimum wage for drivers last year but did not address worker classification. It’s difficult for cities to take on the issue without incurring lawsuits because worker classification is traditionally governed by state and federal jurisdictions.

On Tuesday, Uber confirmed 435 layoffs of workers on its product and engineering teams, following 400 layoffs in July.

The regulatory uncertainty coupled with financial turmoil could spook investors, many of whom are already wary of ride-sharing’s long-term economic viability. Some experts believe Uber and Lyft’s best chance at long-term success is prioritizing their new mobility businesses, like bike- and scooter-share.

Pitchbook economist Asad Hussain said California’s new bill “will create a headwind for Uber and Lyft and may reduce the attractiveness of investing in gig economy business models that classify workers as independent contractors,” in a statement.

“As using gig economy drivers becomes more complicated, expensive and regulated, platforms that connect people to vehicles — as opposed to drivers — may provide more favorable unit economics,” he added. “In the long term, we think Uber and Lyft should respond by doubling down on their micromobility and autonomous technology investments and potentially expanding into carsharing.”

Uber and Lyft have warned that they will have to set driver schedules in advance under the new law, impacting the flexibility that many of their workers depend on. The California legislators behind the bill disagree in documents associated with the legislation. They note that “nothing in this act is intended to diminish the flexibility of employees to work part-time or intermittent schedules or to work for multiple employers.”

“We are fully prepared to take this issue to the voters of California to preserve the freedom and access drivers and riders want and need,” said Durbin on behalf of Lyft.

]]>Echodyne raises $20M from Bill Gates and others as surveillance radar gains tractionhttps://www.geekwire.com/2019/echodyne-raises-20m-bill-gates-investors-innovative-radar-system/
Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:43:25 +0000https://www.geekwire.com/?p=520352Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other investors have contributed to a fresh $20 million funding round for Kirkland, Wash.-based Echodyne, a company that makes use of exotic metamaterials to build high-performance radar technology for government and commercial markets. In today’s announcement, Echodyne said the additional capital will enable the company to meet growing demand for its EchoGuard 3D surveillance radar, expand its distribution channels and continue to invest in the development of sensors for commercial drones, autonomous vehicles and other applications. The latest round’s other investors include firms that have previously backed Echodyne, including Madrona Ventures, NEA, Vulcan Capital and… Read More]]>Echodyne’s flat-panel radar antenna is small enough to be held in your hand. (Echodyne Photo)

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and other investors have contributed to a fresh $20 million funding round for Kirkland, Wash.-based Echodyne, a company that makes use of exotic metamaterials to build high-performance radar technology for government and commercial markets.

In today’s announcement, Echodyne said the additional capital will enable the company to meet growing demand for its EchoGuard 3D surveillance radar, expand its distribution channels and continue to invest in the development of sensors for commercial drones, autonomous vehicles and other applications.

The latest round’s other investors include firms that have previously backed Echodyne, including Madrona Ventures, NEA, Vulcan Capital and Lux Capital. But there’s a new backer on board as well: Vanedge Capital, which is based in Vancouver, B.C. Vanedge managing partner Moe Kermani will be added to Echodyne’s board of directors.

“Adding Vanedge to our existing blue-chip investors underscores Echodyne’s opportunity for breakthrough radar products in a number of industries,” Echodyne CEO Eben Frankenberg said in a statement.

“With our market-leading 3D radar for perimeter security and airspace management, an airborne radar for commercial UAS [unmanned aerial vehicle] detect-and-avoid, and a game-changing radar for autonomous vehicles to be unveiled later this year, Echodyne is poised for growth and expansion in a number of markets,” he said.

Kermani said he was “delighted” to contribute to Echodyne’s growth. “Echodyne has brought to market a suite of highly differentiated products that are proven to be game-changers in a number of large markets,” he said.

Echodyne is one of several Gates-backed, metamaterials-based spin-outs from Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures. Metamaterials are electronic circuits that allow for the development of flat-panel antennas that can steer beams with no moving parts.